Delayed Player
by Linsneakers
Summary: ::SPOILERS!:: Souji didn't trust him... Yosuke was going to save him... It hurt.
1. Chapter 1

Delayed Player

Souji sat on his couch, staring blankly at his TV. Nobody had welcomed him home in the past two weeks. Nobody had sat with him at dinner and sang to the Junes commercial whenever it came on. Nobody was there for him to talk to. He was alone, but that hadn't sunk in until just now. It was horrible, both his uncle and cousin lay injured in the hospital, and he _just_ started to comprehend it? He was such a jerk…

Jumping when his cell phone started ringing, he fished it out of his pocket and glared at the caller ID. Rise was calling. Flipping the phone open, he cancelled the call and turned the device off, practically slamming it onto the table. None of them understood how he felt, not even close. They all acted sad and blamed themselves, but none of them knew Nanako or Dojima as much as he did. They didn't even take how he felt into consideration! When he told them to calm down, they just yelled right back in his face! They just kept on blaming and feeling sorry for themselves asking for pity from the one actually _related_ to the patients! Selfish pricks…

The idol probably called him in the first place just to try to get on his good side for who-the-hell-knows-why-or-what. All he knew was that he liked her a thousand times better before they saved her. Now, she was just an annoying idiot who tried to cling to his arm every second she got. She was _especially_ annoying once they were in battle…

"Look out, Senpai, you're poisoned!" No _shit_, Sherlock! You don't think he couldn't feel an enormous amount of pain coursing through his veins?

Groaning, he slid down the sofa, a headache starting to pound against the walls of his skull. He didn't want to go downstairs and be greeted to the empty loneliness… but he guess it didn't matter, he had been seeing it for two weeks now, after all. Slipping down the stairs, he dug through the cabinet where all the medicine and first-aid kit was, grabbing the Tylenol container when he finally found it buried in the back. He took two with a glass of water, not bothering to put the container back; it would make something look different down there. He groaned again when the doorbell rang when he was halfway up the steps and he grudgingly made his way back down.

Opening the door, he was greeted to the ever sheepish looking detective, Adachi.

"Hi, there! I-I didn't wake you, did I?" the cop questioned, slyly rubbing the back of his head.

Souji sighed and shook his head, "No. What is it?"

The teenager was surprised when Adachi hadn't commented on his harsh tone of voice. "I just wanted to see how you were holding up. I know it must be lonely all by yourself, I know how it is." He smiled sadly, continuing to scratch the back of his head.

Souji blinked. This man was an idiot, too. He may be his uncle's right-hand man who came over a few times to help with the investigations, or to help Dojima get to the couch when he was drunk, but that was pretty much the only time the two ever actually conversed, however little it was. When he'd been at the mall with his friends and the detective had appeared, the teenager never said a word, the idiot kept running his mouth about the case and his friends were all raising eyebrows in question at the should-be classified information being leaked to them.

…Souji didn't trust him.

Adachi was awkward, naïve (for a cop), simple-minded, clumsy, and a bumbling idiot. Well, that was the front he'd created for people to see so they could believe in him. Souji knew there was something under that aloof exterior. He always noticed the dark gaze the detective gave him whenever the man thought he wasn't paying attention. There was also something that had seemed to spark in him when that Yamano or Saki girl was mentioned. And there was also when Naoto had listed off Yukiko's and the other's names in Namatame's diary. What had he said…?

"Well then, I guess that settles it!" or something to that accord. They'd only been declared missing, not kidnapped, the detective knew that, and that's what killed the "innocent" Adachi from Souji's mind. He was trying to play them all like a violin.

"Hey, uh, you okay there?" Souji blinked again looking at the cop who was peering at him curiously. The teenager shook his head, giving a practiced—convincing—apologetic smile.

Adachi wasn't the only one who could play other people for a fool.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Adachi-san, I've been zoning out a lot lately." There was that darkened gaze again, even if it was only there for just a second, he still saw it.

"Really? That's not good. Is it because of Dojima-san and Nanako-chan being in the hospital? Oh, what if it's because of this fog?" The man thought incredulously, his eyes widening at the fact.

The teenager stared out at the fog behind the older man, somehow noticing it seemed…lighter around Adachi. Maybe he was just going crazy. Either way, he lightly shook his head and racked his brain for a reply, "…I…I'm not sure what it is, really."

Adachi gave a short smile, "I see." His eyes grew wide again, "Oh! Uh, may I come in? There's something I want to talk to you about. That, and it's kinda…cold out here."

Souji nodded and barely was able to manage apologizing for his "lack of manners" before stepping aside, allowing the older man to pass and take off his shoes before making himself at home, immediately seating himself on the couch like this were actually his house. Closing and locking the door, Souji walked to the living room as well and sat himself on his usual cushion by the table, looking blankly at the cop.

What would he want to talk about?

"Hey, come on now, don't make me feel bad." …What? "Here, come and sit on the couch. It's not like I bite or anything."

Souji's inner eyes narrowed. What was he up to? Surely it didn't matter where he sat, right? Silently getting up, he sat next to the older man and instantly felt a chill run down his spine. This was suddenly way too close for comfort.

"So..." the teenager suddenly found himself fidgeting and nervous, "W-What did you want to talk about?"

Those dark eyes were drilling holes in the side of his head. He didn't dare look over.

"I was just wondering," if it'd been anyone else, they wouldn't have noticed the hint of anger in Adachi's voice, "how you and your friends found Mitsuo, Namatame and Nanako-chan at the electronics department in Junes at the same spot."

Souji froze. He scanned his brain for any type of excuse, but he could find none. Dammit, he hadn't expected anyone to question that!

"I mean, don't get me wrong, we're glad you caught them, I'm just curious."

"…We…" Souji faltered, and it suddenly felt like he was being suffocated. He couldn't breathe, his headache was back with a vengeance, and those killer eyes wouldn't stop eating away at him. He couldn't think of anything to say. What _could_ he say? "Oh, yeah, they were all in the TV! Funny story, huh? It's actually really true, but you didn't believe me in the police station so I won't even bother." Yeah, right.

"Whoa! H-hey, are you all right? You look ready to collapse!" Adachi's voice rang with his headache, and he suddenly felt the urge to throw up.

"I…I need to lie down…" Souji found himself muttering, the room spinning as he tried to focus on the table, hoping that would stop his sudden dizziness.

"Oh, yeah, of course! Here, let me help you." When the detective helped lay him down on the couch, Souji felt dirty. That man…he knew the whole idiot thing was a façade, but what exactly was it that made him feel so dangerous? The fact that he had a gun holstered at his side and could blast his brain out at any moment? No, of course not, the man wasn't actually an idiot, and he'd have nothing to gain if he did that. So just _what_ was it that was now putting him at unease?

"Here, I got you a glass of water."

Something about him…

"You don't want it? I'll put it on the table then. Heh, it's a good thing I came over after all, isn't it? If I hadn't, who knows what would have happened to you!"

Souji knew that Adachi knew that he knew the mask was a lie. Adachi could probably see through Souji's mask just as easily.

"A-Adachi-san?"

"Yeah?"

"C-an you…call…an ambulance?"

"Huh? Why? What's the matter?"

"I…I can't…breathe…"

"W-What? O-Okay, hang on, stay calm, I'm calling them right now!" Souji grimaced as his chest continued to tighten after every breath. He didn't want to rely on that man, he knew there were either skeletons or a black hole in the detective's closet, but right now, he had no choice. He seriously couldn't breathe, and his pounding head was blocking out Adachi's distressed calls for him.

He blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

Delayed Player 2

"…n you…r me…ji?"

Souji knew why he hated hospitals. Souji knew why mostly everyone hated waking up _in_ a hospital. Those damned lights were so bright! Even though his eyes were closed, they were still making him see red!

"…ji! Souji!" the teenager reluctantly opened his eyes, grimacing at the damned lights streaming into his vision. He slowly lifted himself up, tempted to rip out the IV in his arm. It itched like hell. People or objects or whatever were blurred so much they were just a giant mess of colours, and Souji couldn't tell one thing apart from the next. Squinting didn't help either.

"Oh, thank god…" he heard his uncle mutter, the man slowly starting to flesh out. Souji sighed, leaning his head against the pillow. His head was still throbbing. If they were giving him morphine, it wasn't working all that great. "I was worried sick. What happened?"

The teenager stared blankly at the blob-slowly-turning-human before shrugging. Why would he know why he was here? The doctor would be the one to know! Glaring at the ceiling, Souji didn't know what else to do. He knew he'd be released later in the day or early in the next, he wasn't in that bad of health, besides, he hated hospitals. He hated them a lot.

"Souji," the cop started, "you won't be going to school for the next two weeks."

The teenager quickly sat up and regretted it when the room started spinning. "W…Why?" he whispered, suddenly finding himself excruciatingly tired.

"I thought it would be good for you. It must be hard, being there all by yourself. At least Nanako had you for company when you got home." Dojima winced lightly at his words, pausing before he continued. "I…just want you to take it easy, all right? I told Adachi to check up on you from time-to-time, so at least it won't just be you by yourself anymore. Oh, and don't worry, you're exempt from the exams."

Souji gave a short smile to respond to his uncle's; despite the fact his stomach was doing flips. He knew his relative had intentions, but school was honestly the only thing keeping him sane at the moment, so to have that stripped away from him for two weeks, he didn't know… And Adachi? A shiver trailed up his spine at the thought of that man so close to him again. What was it that made him feel so dangerous? Sliding back down in the bed, Souji fought the urge to close his eyes. He didn't want to wake up to blinding lights again.

His uncle probably noticed his struggle to stay awake because the cop laughed, "Get some rest."

Souji gave a short nod before drifting back to an endless void of darkness. He didn't dream anymore. When had they stopped? He missed the random dreams he used to have when he was little.

"…Souji…" the teenager stirred, expecting the blinding hospital lights again, but was greeted only by a tiny stream of it from the hallway.

Wait…

Sitting up, Souji glanced around. He was back in his room at home, lying in his futon, and the person he saw sitting on his couch was none other than Adachi.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" the detective smiled, rubbing the back of his head.

Souji frowned, feeling nervous again. He knew this man was dangerous, he just wished he knew exactly _how_ dangerous. He stared at Adachi, waiting. Would he do something? Would he just sit there and continue to act all innocent? What would he do?

"Oh, I'm sorry! I bet you're confused, huh?" the man laughed sheepishly before slowly standing up, walking over to the futon. Souji failed to hold back the chill that shot through his body the closer the cop got. When Adachi started to grab something by-or in-his holster, the teenager tightly shut his eyes, expecting a gunshot... Then nothing since he'd be dead, after all.

A couple moments passed and there wasn't a sound. Hesitantly, Souji opened his eyes again to find a puzzled Adachi standing over him, an inhaler in his hand.

"W-What was that for?" the man looked down, realizing where he had placed the inhaler by, before looking back up, shocked, "Y-You didn't think I would shoot you, d-did you? I would never do something like that! You're like…I don't know exactly how to explain it, but I'd never pull a gun on you!" Souji could physically _feel_ the lies stab him.

"A-Anyway, the doctor told me to give you this when you woke up. You...had an asthma attack, s-so…yeah. He said you were okay enough to leave so Dojima-san told me to get you home. M-Maybe it was a stupid idea to put the thing so close to my gun, huh?"

Souji looked at the inhaler. An asthma attack? He hadn't had one of this since he was five, so why would he have one now? Taking it from Adachi, the teenager glared at the object. He never thought he'd see one again.

"Oh, do you know how to use it?"

"…Yeah."

"Okay good, because I honestly have no idea!" Adachi laughed again, ending it was a sigh. "You know, it would have been terrible if you were stuck in the hospital, too. Dojima-san probably would have ripped his stitches again with anxiety. He thinks of you like a son, you know! Or…wait…did he say younger brother?"

Souji didn't reply. He didn't want the detective in his room anymore. He didn't want the detective in this town anymore. He didn't want the detective to be _breathing_ anymore. The man was dangerous. Souji bet he only joined the police just so he could legally hold a gun.

"Well…uh…are you tired? Dojima-san told me to stay here for the night in case anything happened again. To be honest, I'm not that good at taking care of people…" Adachi sighed again, glancing down at his feet.

Souji shook his head, placing the inhaler on the floor, "I'll be fine. You can go home if you want."

Adachi perked up, waving his hands defensively, "I-I couldn't! Dojima-san would probably kill me if I did!"

"I wouldn't tell him." Souji glared in his mind. He just wanted this man gone; the room felt like it was covered in ice thanks to him.

"I bet he'd find out, he's that scary." The man muttered, face covered in dismay, "And is it just me, or are you trying to get rid of me?"

Souji froze before shaking his head again, "Of course not. I just don't want to be any trouble."

Adachi gave a weak smile, his gaze darkening for another split moment, "It's not that much trouble, r-really!" Souji could practically hear the unspoken words Adachi was thinking. "_And now I have a reason to keep my eye on you."_

"A-All right." The teenager had hesitated with his reply, the suffocating feeling from before was back. He struggled to remain calm, not wanting the older man to realize he was making him uneasy. He didn't want Adachi thinking he was an easy target.

"You get some rest then. You may not be tired, but you're still pretty much recovering so rest up well! ...Then again, you do have two weeks to rest, don't you? Just don't push yourself, okay? Oh… I guess I'll leave you to your sleep now. I'll be downstairs if you need me." The cop rambled before quickly walking out of the room. Once he was sure Adachi was gone, Souji nearly threw himself off the futon when he fumbled for the inhaler.

After using the medicine, Souji sighed of relief when he could breathe easy. He wasn't going to get any sleep, he knew that much. He was scared, scared of that man watching TV on the couch downstairs, scared of that man hiding beneath the mask. He was scared because he didn't know exactly how dangerous that man was.

Slipping out of the futon, Souji crept towards his desk and sat down on the chair. Turning on the headlamp, the teenager grabbed a piece of paper and a nearby pencil. He didn't know why, but drawing when he was scared calmed him down. It did when he was a kid and it did now. He wasn't the best drawer in the world, but he wouldn't say he was that bad either.

Small strokes, quick strokes, long strokes, scribbles kept appearing on the page, and for some reason, Souji had no idea what he was drawing. Usually he had a faint idea, but this time, he had no idea whatsoever, it was like his hand had a mind of its own. Minutes passed, and he still had no idea what he was drawing. More minutes passed, followed by even more, the scribbles getting darker and scratchier after each stroke.

Sometime, after a couple more minutes, his hand just stopped, it wouldn't draw anymore. Dropping the pencil, he stared at the paper, thoroughly confused. He still wasn't able to tell what he'd drawn. But, maybe at a different angle, he would? He doubted it though, it's not like he was able to draw upside down or something, that was just crazy!

Either way, he turned it sideways first. Still couldn't tell anything from the scribbles. Turning the paper upside down, Souji's eyes widened. Shredding up the page, the boy fled from his room and straight to the bathroom, throwing up in the toilet. Coughing, he steadied himself, slowly catching his breath.

"Hey, what happened? Are you okay?" Souji turned to Adachi who stood at the door, concerned. Fake-concerned anyway. The teenager threw up again and nearly blacked out when the older man put a hand on his shoulder.

The picture…was of that man. That man…was standing over a beheaded body with his school uniform. That man was smiling.

Souji turned to look at that man, and even though he actually kept that (fake) concerned expression, the teenager could see that menacing smile in those dark eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

Delayed Player 3

After he calmed down, Souji ignored Adachi completely, flushing the toilet and headed back to his room, locking the door. Sliding to the ground, the teenager rested his head on his knees. He couldn't think straight. Did Adachi ever really murder anybody? Would Adachi really murder him? What would Adachi do? He wished he was a mind-reader so he could tell what the man's actions were going to be. He was scared. So very, very scared. He wanted that man's mask to shatter so he could actually see what he was up against.

"Souji? You okay?" the muffled calls from the detective barely entered his ears.

"F-Fine." Souji squeaked, just realizing exactly how much his throat burned.

"Are you sure? Throwing up usually doesn't mean you're okay."

"I'm fine!" no, he wasn't, but that man would just make it worse.

"Woah! I-I was just saying! No need to get so angry…" the detective muttered, "Well… I guess since you say you're fine, I'll go back downstairs. Remember, I'm here to help you. Dojima-san would kill me if you got sent back to the hospital."

Once Souji knew Adachi was gone, he slowly rose to his feet and headed to his desk where the shreds of paper lay scattered about. Grabbing the pieces of the ripped page, he threw them in the garbage, contemplating whether or not he should grab a match and burn them. Crawling back in his futon, Souji couldn't help but shiver when he heard Adachi laugh at whatever he was watching downstairs. He sounded maniacal…

…Or maybe it was just his imagination making the man sound maniacal.

Curling himself deeper in to the sheets, Souji held back a sob. He wouldn't cry. He had to be strong. He wouldn't be considered an easy target. No matter what, he wouldn't cry. Adachi wouldn't actually try to do anything, would he? Especially not in Dojima's house, right? He had more brains than that, didn't he?

Burying his face in the pillow, Souji had to calm himself again, experiencing the suffocating feeling that was slowly starting to return. He reached for the inhaler he'd left on the ground and used it, deciding to at least try to go to sleep once he was able to breathe easy. After setting the inhaler down again, the teenager slowly closed his eyes, hoping to drift off immediately. That didn't happen of course, he wasn't tired anymore from sleeping for who-knows-how-long. Rolling around, trying to get comfortable, Souji gave up after a couple of minutes.

It was pointless; he wasn't going to get to sleep. His mind kept reeling in circles. He was confused.

Maybe Adachi really wasn't a bad guy. Maybe it was just him overanalyzing things and overreacting. Maybe he was just being paranoid. Maybe he was just being paranoid _and_ overanalyzing things way out of proportion. Maybe Adachi really was just an awkward, naïve, simple-minded, clumsy, bumbling idiot cop. Maybe all those "dark" glances the cop shot at him didn't actually contain any malice. Maybe the camouflaged hints of anger in Adachi's voice weren't even there and his ears just wanted to play tricks one him. Maybe _he_ was the evil one here…

Souji frowned. No… There was still something off about that man. Way off. Was he really just being paranoid? Was he really just overanalyzing things? What was really going on here? He wanted to know!

Screaming into the pillow, Souji resisted the urge to punch the wall in frustration. He was so confused. So very, very confused. Was he right about Adachi, or was he severely wrong? Was Adachi really dangerous, or was Adachi just an idiot? Souji knew the only way to get his answers was to ask the detective himself, but he knew that was futile_. _Anybody in their right minds would decline that they were dangerous and ask the one who asked the question if they were serious.

What could he do to confirm his suspicions? Nothing, he couldn't do a thing. He was stuck in a web of confusion, a web of lies, a web of paranoia, and a web of despair.

Lifting himself up, he got out of the futon, finding it pointless to remain in it if he wasn't going to go to sleep. He stared at the door, hearing the man downstairs laugh again. Gulping, Souji unlocked the door, shakily heading down a couple of steps before realizing he should take his inhaler, just in case. After going back and grabbing the object, Souji realized he didn't really want to go downstairs, but he didn't want to stay in his room. The TV he had only showed the news, and he didn't feel like doing any homework at the moment. If he wanted entertainment, he had to go downstairs anyway.

Heading down, Adachi turned to him when he reached the landing, giving a short smile. "I'm guessing you couldn't sleep?"

Souji shook his head, warily heading to the living room. Adachi patted the seat beside him, beckoning the teenager to sit there instead of the cushion on the floor where he was originally intending to go. Souji was hesitant, but sat down anyway, another light chill running through his veins at how close he was to the older man. Neither of them said anything else, they both just sat and watched the TV. Souji had seen his uncle watching this before. What was it called? "_Two and a Half Men_", or something like that? He blinked, slightly confused as to what was going on, but it did make him chuckle the odd couple of times.

After the show ended, Adachi got up off the couch and headed to the fridge.

"You want something to drink?" he asked, peering over his shoulder at the teen.

"No thanks." Souji wasn't risking the chance of the man secretly slipping poison in the drink.

"You sure?"

Souji nodded.

"Okay, if you say so." The detective shrugged, grabbing a beer and sitting back down. Neither of them said anything again as the next show started to air. Souji noticed Adachi sneer, just for a second. A couple of minutes passed, Souji half-paying attention to the show and half-paying attention to the rampant questions still swarming his mind. They were mainly just repeats of what he'd asked himself before. Was he just paranoid? Was Adachi really dangerous? Was he just overreacting? Was Adachi truly just an idiot? What was Adachi truly like if the idiocy was indeed just a mask? Had he murdered people? Had he joined the police just so he could legally hold a gun? Had he joined the police because he actually _wanted _to set criminals in their place? Were the dark stares he gave the result of any paranoia? Were the dark stares actually even real? Would he ever figure out this web of looping questions that seemed like they would never stop? Could Adachi actually be trusted? Something was off about him, yes, but was it really something horrible? Was it something he could be sent to jail for? Was it just something in the man's childhood that he'd rather not talk about? Just what _was _it that made Souji shiver whenever he got close?

"You can change the channel if you want." Souji snapped out of his thoughts and hesitantly looked at the detective, who now didn't seem to care if the boy saw him glaring at the screen. Either he hated the show, or there was something else going on…

"I…don't really watch TV all that much." The teenager admitted, earning a shocked look from the older man.

"Really? Y-You can't be serious!" Adachi seemed mortified. "I thought all kids did these days was watch TV!"

Souji shook his head.

"S-So you don't mind if I change the channel?" the cop gave an awkward laugh.

Souji shook his head again.

"All right, then!" the man cheered, grabbing the remote, flicking through the channels. Souji stared at the man through the corner of his eye, wondering why Adachi had been glaring. Was it indeed because of the show that'd been playing, or was it because of something else?

Letting out a small sigh, which Adachi hadn't heard, Souji leaned his head back against the couch, telling himself to quit asking questions that couldn't be solved. He doubted Naoto could solve them. He doubted Dojima could solve them. He sure as hell wouldn't ask Adachi to solve them.

…

The teenager hadn't even realized he fell asleep shortly after telling himself that.

"Hey… Hey, Souji." He knew it was Adachi that was shaking his arm. Who else could it be? "Souji, wake up."

Opening his eyes, the teenager stared at the older man who gave him a short smile.

"It's morning, I have to head out. Call me if you need anything, all right? I left my number on the table." Souji gave a small nod, lightly rubbing his eyes. "Okay, I'm gonna head out now. Don't push yourself, or Dojima-san'll probably get angry at both of us… Or…maybe just me… Probably just me… Well, anyway, see you later!"

Souji watched the detective leave and sighed before he got up and stretched. Either Adachi hadn't felt like carrying the teenager back to his room, or he'd fallen asleep on the couch, too. Wincing at the pain in his neck, Souji grabbed the Tylenol container, which hadn't moved from when he'd taken it out, and downed two pills. Looking at the calendar on the wall, Souji sighed once more.

It was going to be a long two weeks.


	4. Chapter 4

Delayed Player 4

By the time Souji remembered he'd turned his cell phone off, he'd already given up on his friends. Not one of them bothered to stop by, not Yosuke, not Teddie, not Kanji, not Naoto, not Yukiko, not Chie, not even Rise. None of them stopped by even _once_. It'd already been nine days, and none of them had bothered. The only one who checked up on him had been Adachi, which he expected anyway. The teenager was still torn about the truth and who the man actually was, and he was still hesitant and cautious around him, but he was slowly starting to enjoy the visits. There was nothing else to do, after all. Dojima wouldn't let him work his part-time jobs as a day-care assistant, tutor, or janitor at the hospital. He also finished his homework the first day he was home alone during the two week vacation, and he already read all the books he bought, he wasn't going to bother reading them again so soon.

At least Adachi brought something to do when he came around.

The detective was the one who reminded him of his cell phone in the first place, so once the man had left, Souji searched his room for it, randomly finding it wedged between the couch cushions. Hadn't he left it on the table? Either way, he flipped the device open and turned it on. Once it finally lit up, Souji found himself greeted to 46 unopened voicemails and 33 unopened text messages. Most of them were from Rise and Teddie, both of them totalling to 64 out of the 79 messages. Of course, Yosuke was in the background in some of Teddie's voicemails, but other than that, he just sent texts.

They all heard what happened and hoped he got better, saying they missed him at school, so-on-so-forth. They apparently weren't able to visit because Junes was understaffed, and Yosuke had roped them into helping for the week after exams were over. Teddie kept saying how they would celebrate a big party at his house, and how much fun they would have. Then he went on to talk about how Nanako would probably be better to join the party as well.

That's when Souji snapped his phone shut. Nanako was in no position to go to a party, none at all. She wouldn't get better in time, he knew that! He knew he told them to believe in her, and he believed she would make it through, but he knew it would take more than four weeks! The doctor's had no idea how to diagnose her, so of course they wouldn't be able to help; all they figured they could do was give her morphine!

How he hated hospitals.

The next couple of days were pretty much the same. He'd be bored, roaming around the house, doodling or watching the TV until Adachi came over at around 7. They would have some small-talk, have something to eat, then watch some more TV, or play a game of tic-tac-toe or something. Souji hadn't opened his cell phone again, even when he heard it ringing. They still didn't understand how he felt. They didn't understand the situation he was in. They still apologized in some of the texts, without addressing the subject head-on, but he knew they were talking about Nanako and Dojima, not him.

"So, I kept forgetting to ask, did your friends leave you any messages?" the detective asked one day before plunking a piece of sushi in his mouth.

Souji could only nod in response.

"See? I told you they would have! So, what'd they say?"

"…Nothing important."

"Oh, come on, they must have said something!"

"Why do you care?"

"I…I…was just curious… S-Sorry."

"….They just said they...missed me."

"I see…"

The rest of that evening had been shrouded in an awkward silence, but Souji could feel those dark eyes glaring at him sometimes. He knew he wasn't imagining it. He knew he wasn't. He couldn't be imagining it, there just wasn't any way.

Now it was the second-to-last day of his vacation, and Souji was getting restless. He was itching to get back to school that day, but then there'd be no point since it was Friday, then it'd be Saturday the next day. He sighed; make that the third-to-last day of his vacation. Stupid Sunday. He couldn't sit still, he kept walking around the house, he'd sit down, and then he'd get back up and walk around again. The pattern repeated pretty much the entire day. He tried watching TV, but only ended up getting bored and walked around some more. When he heard the doorbell ring, Souji gave a definite sigh of relief and rushed to the door, not bothering to check who was there since he knew it was Adachi.

He still didn't trust the man fully, he was still hesitant and cautious around him, but he was just glad for something different in these boring days. Opening the door, Souji was about to let the detective in, only to freeze, staring at the man's attire. A black tuque, a black hoodie, black sweatpants, rubber boots, and what looked like multiple pairs of gloves.

"A-Adachi?" Souji gulped, thinking of slamming the door in the man's face, locking the door, running to his room and locking that door too. The detective glared and nodded, motioning for the boy to step back so he could go in. Souji couldn't move. His legs were locked. His brain was muddled, his suspicions of this man being dangerous was true. Some part of him wished it wasn't, wished he was just a bumbling idiot who worked under his uncle.

"Get inside." The cop hissed when Souji didn't move. The boy gulped again, finding himself drenched in a cold sweat. He couldn't move, he was too scared, more scared then he felt in a long, long while. He was so terrified he doubted words could even describe exactly how terrified he was. Grunting with anger when the teenager still stayed planted on the spot; he pushed Souji inside and shut the door, locking it.

"Upstairs." He demanded, and Souji obliged once his legs started working, very shaky, but working. He slowly made his way up the stairs, Adachi right behind him. What was he going to do? What was he going to do? What was he going to do? _Whatwashegoingtodo-whatwashegoingtodo-whatwhatwhat_?

Souji could feel himself blacking out due to the stress and panic and fear and confusion. They didn't even get to the top of the stairs before his knees buckled, and he fell against the stairs. Adachi didn't bother to help him up slowly, instead yanking his arm and forcefully lifting him up on his feet, pushing him into his bedroom. Souji stumbled across the room, landing on his knees before he crashed against the table. The teenager gasped, not realizing he'd forgotten to breathe.

"Where's your inhaler?" the detective questioned, tone very harsh. Souji turned to look at the man, shakily reaching into his pocket and taking the object out. Adachi smirked and nodded. "All right. You'll only get to use it once during what's going to happen. Keep it in your pocket so I know when to let you take that one, solo breather."

Souji stared wide-eyed, panic evident throughout his entire body. It wasn't just a chill that trickled down his spine anymore; it was a full-scale ice age crashing down on top of him. Tears strung his eyes, and he was struggling not to use his inhaler right at that moment, he was finding it very hard to breathe even then, he didn't know how bad it would get if he guessed what the older man was going to do to him. Adachi locked the bedroom door and slowly started to advance towards the teenager, who struggled to get to his feet and somehow escape from this man. This only resulted in the cop smirking dangerously, his eyes flicking with a daring yellow for just a split moment before returning to those still-dangerous coal eyes.

"There's no use in running, _Souji_," the boy shivered at how Adachi rolled his name off his tongue before licking his lips, "You're mine for this moment."

Souji yelped when the man turned him so his back was against the table and pinned him against it, straddling him. Souji struggled for words, to ask him why, why, _why_, but could only emit squeaks.

"What's the matter?" Adachi practically purred, "Cat got your tongue?"

Souji shut his eyes, squirming to get away. It was futile, he stood no chance, even though he'd gotten stronger thanks to fighting the shadows, he was still no match for the cop who no doubt had extensive physical training.

"P-Please…please d…don't…" Souji finally managed to choke out, still keeping his eyes shut tight. Adachi merely chuckled, pushing Souji harder against the table, causing him to yelp again from the pain pinching his back.

"Oh, I'm not that much of an idiot. I'm not going to leave a trace of myself on or in you. How do you think rapists get caught?" the man chuckled again, gloved hands tightly gripping onto his chin. "Now, you're going to listen to me without question, correct? I'm sure you'll know what will happen if you don't."

Tears streamed down his face as the teenager managed to whisper a strangled 'yes', feeling absolutely horrible. He felt that no amount of showers, soap, physical therapy or anything would be able to make him feel clean ever again.

Adachi clenched Souji's chin even harder, causing the boy to wail, "Open your eyes, Souji."

He reluctantly opened his eyes, tears still continuing to flow down his face. He was literally suffocating, he couldn't breathe at all. He needed his inhaler, and he'd need it more than once unless Adachi planned on killing him! It was scary how he could clearly see that devilish smirk despite how blurry his vision was.

"Good, good. I always loved your eyes, you know that?" the man purred again, tilting the teenager's head to the side, causing him to wail again. "And your screams are absolutely delightful."

Souji winced, gasping for air as he started to hyperventilate, pain surging through his entire body, "C…an't…pl…ea…s…" he managed to plea, struggling to put his hand in his pocket.

"Oh, using your life-line so soon?" the detective chuckled again.

"P…le…" Souji couldn't even finish his sentence; he found the world blacking out. He heard Adachi sigh and then the pressure on him was lifted and he quickly fumbled for his inhaler, continuing to strain for air even after using the medicine.

He heard Adachi groan in frustration, "Well if this keeps up, you'll be dead before I even start. I might as well just make this quick. Thanks for nothing, kid."

Souji didn't even have time to yell when the man brought out his gun and pulled the trigger.


	5. Chapter 5

Delayed Player 5

"Holy crap, Souji! Souji, are you okay? Speak to me, partner!"

"Senpai!"

"Sensei!"

"Please, refrain from crowding around him!"

"Wh-What happened?"

"Someone musta robbed the damn place… Those sons of bitches, I'll give them hell to pay, dammit!"

"Quick, someone call an ambulance for Sensei!"

"All right, I'm on it!"

Souji couldn't open his eyes, they felt like lead. He was conscious, he obviously knew that, the pain searing through his shoulder was enough to tell him that. He must have blacked out when Adachi pulled the trigger. When someone put their hand on his injury, he seethed, rolling over, nearly biting his tongue off.

"S-Senpai? I-I apologize for hurting you, I was just trying to inspect the full capacity of your injury." So how the hell did that help, Miss Ace Detective? Souji grimaced when something tight squeezed around the wound, and nearly bit his tongue off again. He could feel blood seep from his freshly made wound and he started to gag. He was sure he blacked out again, and he knew he'd wake up in a hospital bed again.

And surely enough, he was right. And like last time, his uncle was there, but this time he was downright furious instead of worried. The moment the teenager woke up to those blinding lights, Dojima was on his feet, leaning over the bed and yelling, "Who the hell did this to you, Souji? What did he look like? How tall was he?"

"Dojima-san! I know you're worried and all and watch to catch this guy, but you need to stay calm! Pressuring Souji into answering these questions right away won't do us any good." Souji froze, lightly lifting his head to see Adachi standing at the end of the bed, his innocent, worried mask plastered on his face. Just the sight of him made the teenager absolutely sick to his stomach and he fell back in the pillow, staring at his uncle who sighed.

"You're right…Sorry." He muttered, before turning serious again, lightly gripping Souji's hand, "But I promise I won't rest until I track this bastard down. When you feel up to it, we're going to have to ask you some questions, all right?" Souji nodded, tears gripping the back of his eyes again. He wouldn't be able to answer honestly. He wouldn't be able to point his finger at Adachi. If he did, the man would most definitely do something exceedingly horrible to Nanako, Dojima, and all his friends.

"Adachi, can you…leave?"

"Huh? Uh, oh, sure, o-of course, Dojima-san!" Adachi stuttered, before leaving. Souji felt like thousands of weights were lifted off his body just at that man being gone.

"Souji…" Dojima sighed again, looking distant, "I'm sorry I haven't been much of a…role model during your time here and I'm sorry you've been the one practically taking care of Nanako while I'm gone, that was never supposed to be your job. I promised my sister I would keep you safe, but look how that turned out. I couldn't help myself, my own daughter, or my nephew. Maybe I wasn't cut out to be a parent in the first place…"

The cop stood up and walked towards the window, giving another sigh. "I'll do everything I can to find the person who did this to you, Souji, I promise. Even if it comes the time which you leave, I'll still continue to look for that man. Anyone who messes with family deserves an ass-kicking."

Souji gave a small smile, almost bursting out in tears. It took sheer will for him not to do just that. Adachi would never be caught. Adachi would make sure he'd never get caught. Adachi was a demon, able to play everyone like fools, able to play everyone like a violin, able to bend the rules into what he wanted. Adachi was a complete and utter monster. Souji couldn't imagine how many crimes that man got away with.

"Get some rest, kid," the teenager turned to his uncle, who was smiling at him softly, "A couple officers will be here to check up on you later. Don't worry; we'll catch the bastard that did this."

Souji nodded again, continuing to hold back his tears. He slowly closed his eyes and waited for his uncle to leave the room. When he heard the door click, the teenager slowly lifted himself up and gazed around. This room was bigger than the one he was in before, way bigger. It had multiple beds, a big-screen TV, and windows. The other rooms didn't have windows. The other rooms didn't have TV's. Why didn't they have windows? Why didn't they even get small, tiny TV's? How was that even fair?

Nanako better have a room like this when she was well enough to talk without feeling massive amounts of pain. Dojima better get a room like this too.

Laying back down, Souji drifted off to sleep, dreaming of nothing but darkness yet again. He half-expected nightmares of what Adachi would have done if he had been able to do everything he'd apparently planned, but nope, nothing at all. Just pure darkness until a nice, calm cop woke him up to ask him questions. They were the typical things.

"Was the assailant a man or woman?"

"Man."

"How tall were they?"

"A head or two taller than you."

"What were they wearing?"

"Black. Black tuque, black hoodie, multiple black gloves, rubber boots. I…" Souji faltered. "I...I don't remember his face."

"I see. What exactly did the man do to you?"

"He…molested me… Tried to…" Souji gulped, he couldn't even say the word. If Adachi'd actually done what he was going to do, he bet he'd have committed suicide. "…Tried to…y-you know… B-But he couldn't…I guess…because of my asthma…s-so he shot me and I blacked out. I…don't know if he stole anything."

"All right. Is there anything the man did or the way he acted that stuck out? Something that could help track him down better, like a lisp or the way he walked?"

Souji shook his head. Adachi was standing by the doorway, watching. How he so badly wanted to yell and point and scream "It was him! He did it! Arrest him! Arrest him!" but he couldn't. He didn't know what Adachi could do at his full potential. He could have the whole hospital rigged with explosives so if the teenager cracked, the place would go boom, hundreds would die, and Adachi wouldn't get sent to jail. He'd be sent to death, yes, but it'd be by his own volition.

The cop smiled softly, flipping his notebook closed, "Thank you. Get plenty of rest, all right?"

Souji nodded and watched as the man left the room, praying he would take Adachi outside for something. His prayers were answered, Adachi was asked something and that fake mask slipped on again and both men left the room. Then Souji just sat there, stiff as a board. He didn't want to think about anything, because he knew it would only conjure up that devil of a man. He didn't want to move because he could somehow feel Adachi continuing to watch him from the corner of that room anyway.

This time, he _knew_ it was just paranoia though. Adachi left, Adachi wasn't there.

No…Adachi would be back. He would always be there. He would always be watching. He would always be listening. He would always be lurking in the corners of his mind. He would stalk him, and whenever Souji turned around, he would be gone. He would sit across from him on trains, only to disappear when Souji looked that way. He would sit beside him in car rides, only to vanish when Souji glanced over. He would be there even if Souji was halfway across the world.

"Hey, partner, how you feeling?" Souji nearly fell out of the bed, staring wide-eyed at Yosuke and everyone else who entered the room. The brunette laughed, "Sorry, did I scare you?"

Chie kicked him, "That's not something to joke about!" she hissed, "Be more considerate! Think about what he's been through, you idiot!"

"O-Oh… S-Sorry, man."

Souji gave a short smile, "It's okay."

Yosuke returned the smile, before staring wild-eyed when two blurs of red and yellow shot past him.

"SENPAI!"

"SENSEEEEI!"

Rise and Teddie cried, hugging Souji and crying with all their might, blubbering about how they were so worried and other stuff the teenager couldn't quite get. He winced when Rise started pinching his shoulder in the sling by how she was clinging onto him.

"Calm down, guys…" Souji muttered, seething.

"Seriously, can't you see you guys are causing Senpai more pain?" Kanji questioned, frowning.

Teddie and Rise quickly let go, muttering apologies like rapid-fire. Souji gave another short-smile, ignoring the need to lightly rub his sore arm. The visit, Souji barely paid attention to, everyone talking about how badly they pretty much failed the exams and how much work they had to do at Junes and how much they missed him. It was pretty much everything they'd said in their texts and voicemails, so he didn't see the point. After around an hour of mindlessly nodding, smiling and shooting blank replies, Souji was feeling extremely exhausted. He was bored of the news he'd heard before, he was glad to see his friends of course, but they were just…he didn't know.

"I'm sorry, guys…" he finally muttered when he'd had enough, "I'm pretty tired."

They all apologized again, saying they'd be back tomorrow to visit right after school was over. Souji gave another grin, and once they all left, collapsed back down to his pillow, releasing a long sigh. They still talked about themselves, about their problems, they never once said, "If you need someone to talk to, I'll listen." Nothing even close.

Sinking further into the bed, Souji find himself drifting off again. He figured if this kept up for much longer, he'd be sleeping as much as he breathed.

The darkness greeted him once more.

"Souji."

Oh god no. He was finally dreaming again, right? This was a nightmare, right? This wasn't real, right? Nothing would happen to him, right? He wouldn't get even more physically or traumatically hurt, right? _Nothing_ would happen to him, _right_?

"Souji, I know you're trying to be cute, acting like you can't hear me," Souji tried to hold back a flinch at Adachi's icy tone, "but it's starting to piss me off."

The teenager gagged when the man's boney fingers gripped his neck and dragged him off the bed. He somehow opened his eyes as he clawed at the detective's arm with his good hand, despite knowing he still definitely stood no chance against the adult.

"Got your attention _now_, you piece of shit?" this man was dangerous. So very, very dangerous. Souji was petrified. So very, very petrified. Adachi was glaring at him with such a wild gaze, it was like thousands of meteor storms and avalanches cascading on him with extreme force.

He was suffocating again, even after Adachi finally released his throat. Souji lay sprawled on the floor, unable to catch his breath.

"You're a smart kid." He was barely able to hear the cop's words. "Such a smart kid. You're not bad looking, either. You can get whatever you want, can't you? Girls, money, good grades, scholarships, trophies, awards, cars, video games, cell phones, whatever you want, and you can get it because you're so goddamned _perfect_. You make me _sick_. Do you know the shit I had to go through to get a lick of cash? Do you know the shit I had to go through to get good grades? Do you know the shit I had to go through to get a girl? Do you know the shit I had to go through to get a job? Of course you don't! You little shits get the easy treatment! You little shits don't have to bust your fingers and kill your back working for that car you want, you just ask your parents or uncle or whatever and they fucking buy it for you in the blink of an eye because you're so _precious_! It's fucking bullshit!"

Souji coughed when the air finally registered in his lungs, and he frantically watched Adachi's every move. He was storming around in circles throwing a tantrum like a kid who didn't get his way. A kid with a gun. A kid with a gun that had the safety off. Souji let the frightened tears roll down his face.

He was going to die.

He was going to die by a man who would most likely get off scot-free.

He was going to die by a man who betrayed his uncle.

He was going to die by a man who would slip on that awkward, naïve, simple-minded, clumsy, idiotic mask.

He was going to die by a man who would indeed play everyone for a fool.

He was going to die by a man who would indeed play everyone like a violin.

He was going to die by a man who was pretty much an angry kid with a gun.

He was going to _die_.

Adachi roughly yanked Souji to his shaking legs and gave the scariest smile the teenager ever saw.

He was going to die by a man who was definitely an incarnate of the grim reaper.

Souji couldn't resist as the detective dragged him closer to the TV, his body numb, "You're going to be the end of my little game."

Souji stared in confusion.

"I've been watching you and your friends trying to play hero. I've been watching you and your friends try to solve the murder mystery."

Souji watched that grin grew even wickeder as he started to piece things together.

"That's right, Souji," the man purred, "I started this game by murdering that Yamano bitch, then that Saki chick. You're going to be the final piece that goes missing, and actually ends up dead instead of being found by a bunch of brats in the electronics part of Junes. Watching everyone freak out over little old you will be quite a sight, and when there still aren't any leads, I bet your uncle will go batshit crazy."

Souji shook his head rapidly, tears flying off his face. He couldn't speak.

"I hope you have fun in a world where your little secret feelings nag at you until you can't take anymore. Oh! And now your friends will _finally_ get to know what you really think about them! Isn't that nice?"

Souji didn't have time to scream, he didn't have time to struggle. He could feel the waves of electricity surge through him as he warped through the TV screen, the last thing he saw being the crazed, psychotic smile on the man of death.

He blacked out yet again.


	6. Chapter 6

Delayed Player 6

"I'm sorry, guys…" Souji muttered blankly, "I'm pretty tired."

Yosuke gave a small understanding nod, watching as everyone else apologized and hoped he get well soon. Leaving the room, everyone was quiet as they wandered down the halls. Doctors and nurses slowly walked past, whispering in hushed tones, probably about the effects of the fog being real and how they had nothing to fight it.

"…How could this happen to him?" Yukiko whispered, staring at the ground, close to tears.

"Do you think it's related to the murders and kidnappings?" Chie piped up.

Naoto shook her head, "No. Senpai never appeared on the news, besides, Namatame has already been taken into custody. I believe it's safe to assume this was just a random act of crime."

"Oh, right…"

Yosuke frowned. Something still seemed off about this whole thing, but he wouldn't tell the others. He guessed it was probably just hard for him to believe that Souji couldn't defend himself against the assailant; the way he acted in the TV was proof enough that he could protect everyone, including himself. He was the strongest person Yosuke knew, but he guessed even the strongest of people could lose their cool sometimes… Yet, he still had troubles imagining Souji ever losing is cool, it seemed impossible. He couldn't imagine Souji listening to whatever the assailant had to say, he couldn't imagine Souji crying hysterically, he couldn't imagine it, Souji wasn't like that. The time when they saved Nanako was a different story, which was more determined rage than losing his cool.

"Did any of you notice that Senpai seemed kinda…distant?" the brunette turned to Kanji who was gazing lightly out the windows they passed by.

Yosuke blinked. He noticed that, too, but he assumed it was because of what happened to Souji, and that he was still thinking about it during their visit. Yosuke clenched his fist, ready to find the guy who did this to their leader and give him a taste of their own medicine. Somebody answered Kanji's question, but Yosuke wasn't paying attention anymore, he just kept thinking of punching that criminal's face in.

Getting outside, the teenagers sighed gloomily at the overwhelming fog that enveloped the city. People were still running around with gas masks screaming in panic, some were mentally lost, huddled in corners and muttering nonsense, while some just wished they could see the sky again, but were otherwise fine. Saying their solemn goodbyes, the group wandered off in separate directions, still distracted with the events that happened so close together, the fog not helping.

"Sensei's going to be okay, right, Yosuke?" Teddie asked as the two slowly made their way home, the blonde lightly biting his lip.

Yosuke gave a hesitant smile, "Of course he is, he's our leader! You know that guy has the strongest will out of us all. Remember when we went to save Nanako?"

Teddie perked up, aqua eyes shining fiercely with admiration, "Of course I do! Sensei was so brave, saying he'd find Nana-chan by himself if we got tired. He was so determined to save her! He really inspired me to protect the ones I love!" the blonde faltered, "…B…But I….couldn't help him…or Nana-chan…"

"I don't think Souji expected anything like that to happen to him, and I'm sure he wouldn't want you beating yourself up over either events." Yosuke replied, small smile still sitting on his lips.

"…Yeah, you're right! I have to be strong for both Sensei and Nana-chan, or else they'll never get better!"

Yosuke laughed before the rest of the walk was filled with silence. He remembered that day, four weeks ago, when they'd first entered the TV to save Nanako. He'd never seen Souji so angry, so determined, and by that, Yosuke knew they weren't leaving even if they got tired. It'd been personal, after all, they hadn't been saving a stranger that time.

"You know, if you guys aren't up to it, then I'll go save Nanako by myself." Is what Souji said after they got to the fourth floor. He hadn't even broken a sweat, he wasn't tired, he showed no signs of fatigue. He even threw his sword around fifty feet into the skull of a shadow up ahead, then beat the living crap out of the next one with his bare-hands.

"Don't slow me down." He'd ordered, not even looking back when he said that as he rushed forward to hunt for more shadows. The group had had more troubles just keeping up with him than they had fighting the shadows.

When they reached Namatame, it took all they had to stop Souji from rushing up and punching the man in the face until he was out cold so he could take Nanako and get out of there. Yosuke could tell he'd wanted to slap Naoto as she questioned the kidnapper, but he managed to control himself. He just wanted Nanako safe, it was understandable that he wouldn't want to converse with Namatame. After Nanako was safe with the girls at the bottom of the stairs and the guys were up against Namatame's shadow, was when Souji let all of his anger free. Yosuke'd never seen anyone get so absolutely furious before, and at that moment, he'd realized their leader could have indeed obliterated through the dungeon single-handedly. Kanji, Teddie and himself had barely gotten any hits in before Namatame reverted back to his human form.

When it was all over and they were back in Junes, Yosuke could tell Souji had been struggling to keep himself awake. He looked pale, his eyes were dull, and he kept zoning out but he stayed awake even when they went to the hospital. Only when the doctor told him to go home, did he nod, and slowly made his way home. Yosuke assumed he didn't even bother going upstairs and collapsed on the couch in the living room.

Yosuke glared as he continued to recollect the events of that long day. They were all tired, sure, but why had they all shouted at Souji when he told them to calm down? They had no right to yell, it was obvious who was worried the most about the girl. Maybe they yelled because they hadn't got to help that much in her saviour? Either way, it still wasn't right…

Great, now he felt like a jerk.

Fishing through his pockets for his house keys once they returned home, Yosuke could only wonder how it must have been for Souji to be in an empty house for so long. Sure, Yosuke had the house to himself quite a lot before Teddie came along, thanks to his parents work shifts. The only difference was that they were always there when he woke up and always came home before he went to bed unless they had to stay late to count inventory or something. He didn't know what it felt like to be welcomed by a _completely_ deserted house.

"Yosuke, what's for dinner?" Teddie chimed as he bounded into the kitchen.

"How should I know? Grab whatever you want."

"YAY!"

The brunette rolled his eyes and headed to the living room, flicking on the TV. Raising his eyebrow at the questionable cartoon that stuttered on the screen, Yosuke quickly changed the channel to the news before Teddie bounced into the room. The teenagers gave each other a glance before Yosuke gave an aggravated sigh.

"I don't think topsicles are dinner material."

Teddie just shrugged and smiled as he sat down, happily munching on his frozen snacks.

"—In other news, a teenager was assaulted in his home earlier this week. He was found by his friends when they went to check up on him and found the front door unlocked. The victim received a bullet to the shoulder after being molested—" Yosuke's eyes widened. That sick son of a bitch!

"Yosuke, what's molested mean?" the blonde inquired, continuing to eat his topsicles.

"Look it up in a dictionary later; now shut up!"

"—The assailant is a white male, around five feet-eight inches to six inches , and weighs around one hundred forty pounds. The victim was unable to get a clear shot of the assailant's face, however, but if you notice any suspicious figures that match the little description given, don't hesitate to call the police... —" Yosuke glared. That was the generic height and weight for most grown men in Inaba, apparently. Dammit… They virtually had no leads. With the epidemic right now, most people in the town would be declared suspicious in a heartbeat.

Jumping when his cell phone started ringing, Yosuke grabbed it from his pocket and lifted it to his ear, "Hello?"

"Yosuke? It's Chie. They were talking about Souji on the news, right? I was thinking he might appear on the Midnight Channel…"

"Chie…" the brunette sighed, "It's not raining. It hasn't ever since the fog appeared."

"I-I know that!" Chie barked, "I was just thinking it might work! We won't know until we try, right?"

Yosuke sighed, "All right, all right, let's try it out then. Let's just hope it doesn't work, or he doesn't show up."

"Yeah… Well, I'll call you later." Then she hung up.

Stuffing the phone back in his pocket, Yosuke leaned into the couch before realizing Teddie was scurrying around.

"What are you doing?" he questioned, eyebrow raised again.

"Looking for a dictionary, I want to know what this 'molested' is." The blonde stated, a triumphant smile on his face when he found the book.

"You won't like it."

Yosuke was right. When Teddie found the word in question, he had to be bribed the rest of the topsicles to calm down. Slowly, the time ticked away as Teddie stuffed himself with the treats as Yosuke lazily switched through the channels on the TV. When midnight rolled around, the two went up to their room and sat on their beds, staring at the blank screen of the TV in their bedroom.

Even though Yosuke's parents hadn't returned from work, they weren't risking the two adults accidentally watching the Midnight Channel.

Seconds morphed into minutes, and when Yosuke was going to drop the idea that anything would appear, he was greeted by the TV emitting static. The static then slowly started to warp into something else. Silence cornered the room when the picture was clear and neither boy moved until Yosuke's cell phone rang again.

Blankly lifting it to his ear, he could tell Chie was crying and didn't know what to say, but kept muttering random words.

Yosuke found the words slipping past his lips as tears slowly slid down his cheeks, "He's already in the TV…"


	7. Chapter 7

Delayed Player 7

Yosuke couldn't sleep. Teddie couldn't sleep. They both sat in bed staring at the blank TV screen. After the image of Souji disappeared from the Midnight Channel, Yosuke hung up on Chie and both boys just continued staring at that empty screen. For an hour, they sat like that, unmoving.

"…I…want to save Sensei…" Teddie muttered; his voice choked.

Yosuke nodded, "Don't worry, we will."

"But I want to save him now…"

"So do I, but we should wait until tomorrow when we get together with everyone."

Teddie gave a distressed sigh, "But…but I…Sensei…"

"Tomorrow, Teddie. Trust me, we're all worried about him, but there's nothing we can do so late. My parents are still at Junes, so I don't wanna get caught sneaking in. Besides, I don't think anyone's parents want us out so late without any indication as to where we are if we _did_ manage to sneak in the TV without getting caught."

"B-But I have no parents! I can go look for Sensei by myself!"

Yosuke groaned, "Teddie, my parents treat you like their son. Are you that blind that you didn't notice? Wait until tomorrow; if you go in by yourself, I'm going to kick your ass!"

Teddie stuck his tongue out in disdain before curling under the covers in his bed, trying to drift to sleep. Yosuke tried to do the same, but his eyes just wouldn't shut. How had Souji ended up in the TV? How come he didn't show up like a silhouette first, like everyone else? Did this mean Namatame _wasn't_ the one who'd kidnapped everyone else? No…he was the kidnapper, he admitted it. Besides, there was nobody else who could have done it… Unless…what if somebody had set him up? But…who could have done that? They had no info on anyone even being an accomplice, if there even was one; Namatame definitely acted like he'd been working alone the whole time.

Yosuke glared before angrily turning on his side. There was no use in trying to figure it out himself. They'd figure it out tomorrow as they went to save their leader. If they got tired, they would keep going. This time, they weren't saving a stranger.

This time, it was personal.

Yosuke hadn't realized it was morning until his mom poured cold water on his face to wake him up. Spouting curses under his breath as he went to dry his face, Yosuke could only wonder how everyone would act at school. Would Rise cry? Would Kanji break anybody's face if they got in his way? Would Naoto be absolutely frustrated? Would Chie kick people's faces in? Would Yukiko barely pay attention to what anyone said? How would _he_ react?

Heading downstairs where he found his family was already eating breakfast; he sat down with them and stared at the TV. The news was on.

"—In other news, the teenager that was assaulted in his home earlier in the week has been found missing from the hospital he was being treated at. Police say he must have been abducted late last night, and believe that the assailant might be behind it. The hospital staff mention that the young man has been prone to asthma and panic attacks as of late, so the sooner he's tracked down, the better. If you have any idea on his whereabouts, please—"

Yosuke zoned out, glaring at his food before deciding he wasn't able to stomach it. Maybe they could all ditch school to save him…

"Oh, the poor thing must be so terrified! Honestly, I don't understand how people can do such things without a care in the world!" Yosuke's mother sneered, waving her fork accusingly at the TV.

"That was your friend, Souji, right?" his father asked, staring curiously at the brunette.

"…Yeah…" Yosuke replied grimly, before realizing Teddie hadn't said a word. Turning to look at the blonde, Yosuke noticed he seemed dead to the world.

"Oh, you poor dears, you must be worried sick!" his mother cooed, rushing over to hug the teenagers, "How about I let you two stay home from school and mascot work, hm?"

"Mom, I…promised…Chie I'd…uh…help her…study during lunch?" he lied. It was obvious, but his mom was kind of slow.

"Oh, all right then…" the woman pouted, retreating back to her seat.

After his parents left for work and Teddie decided he would stay home and meet up with Yosuke and the others later, Yosuke left for school, completely unaware to the world around him. When he arrived at the building, he found Chie, Yukiko, Naoto, Kanji, and Rise all at the front gate, waiting for him. No words were exchanged as he joined them, not even when Rise started sobbing uncontrollable into the brunette's chest. There was nothing _to_ say. They all knew where they were headed after school. They all knew they would kill any shadows that got in their way. They all knew they'd save their leader…no, they'd save their friend.

School surprisingly went extremely fast, but Yosuke hadn't paid attention whatsoever to the classes. Once the last period ended, he bolted out the door, Chie and Yukiko trailing right behind him. By the time they reached Junes, they all had to sit at a table for around 20 minutes to catch their breath, wandering customers eyeing them weirdly. Once everybody was there, they wasted no time in heading straight to the electronics part of Junes. Once the coast was clear, they all jumped in the TV without hesitation, the electrical waves crashing into them harder than before. Yosuke was almost scared that they would get thrown out with first, second, or third degree burns. And if that happened, how would they explain it? Would people see them get chucked out of the TV? Or would they get stuck in the currents of electricity and never be able to leave?

The waves continued to roll down and crawl through everyone's skin, Yosuke continuing to think they weren't going to make it. He was barely able to tell when they'd landed at their usual spot until Kanji shook his arm, trying to get his attention. Shakily getting to his feet, Yosuke knew everyone wanted to comment on the harsh waves of electricity that had been emitted, but were too worried for their leader to comment. He was more important, after all.

Turning to Teddie, Yosuke frowned when the blonde seemed as distant to the world as ever since that morning. He hadn't even bothered putting on his bear suit, that's how out of it he was.

"Teddie, you okay?" Chie asked, staring at the distraught teenager, who just nodded dimly in response. "We'll find him, okay? He'll be all right."

Teddie just nodded again.

"I can sense Senpai!" Rise suddenly shouted, her persona disappearing from behind her. "Come on, follow me!" Everybody else barely had any time to recover from her sudden outburst and start following the young idol; she had dashed away so fast.

Yosuke noticed that the closer they seemingly got to where their friend was, the shadows were slowly getting weaker and smaller in numbers, until there weren't any left at all. According to Rise, they still had quite a ways yet to go still, which was odd, because the shadows only disappeared on the ways to the other…dungeons when they got near the entrance.

After a couple more minutes of running, they decided to take a break, Rise bringing out her persona again to try to estimate exactly how close they were to Souji now. There was no indication of any different areas anywhere nearby, and Teddie seemed too out of it to try to find Souji in the first place. Nobody even knew if he could…smell the places without his bear costume on in the first place.

"How do you think he was thrown into the TV anyway? We caught the kidnapper, didn't we?" Yukiko inquired, fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

"Possibly, there was an accomplice…" Naoto mused before shaking her head then started repeating what Yosuke had questioned the night before. Even the great "Detective Prince" couldn't think of anything. Kanji decided to try his luck, thinking of theories, only to fall short and stop after a couple of sentences.

"Maybe it was a cop, like Adachi-san?" Chie piped up, before her face fell. "Wait…never mind, that was a stupid thought. Adachi-san's too…" she faltered, "He's too…um…w-well you know! It's not like he'd do anything like that, he'd have no reason."

Yosuke nodded; Adachi would never be able to pull anything like this, he was too much of an idiot. Besides, the detective seemed attached to Dojima, Nanako and Souji, so he wouldn't do anything to harm the family, right? Well…at least not on purpose. He did seem exceedingly worried about both Nanako and Dojima being in the hospital, and Yosuke bet the cop was flipping out with Souji's disappearance trying to keep himself and Dojima calm. They probably didn't tell Nanako.

"Now that you bring it up, something has been bothering me about Adachi-san for a while…" Naoto muttered, gazing at the ground, lost in her thoughts, "When I had opened Namatame's diary at the crash scene and read the contents aloud, Adachi-san had said something to the effect of, 'Well then, I guess that settles it!'…I am still unsure as to what he exactly meant by that."

Kanji shrugged, "Maybe you're just over thinking things. Who says the dude wasn't just confused about the whole thing and said the first thing that came to mind? Who knows, maybe he just heard you talk about the first two victims, since he was busy tending to Senpai's uncle and all."

Naoto sighed, lightly shaking her head, "Yes…perhaps you may be right."

"We can ask Souji who did this to him when we find him, right?" Yosuke commented, "Then we can beat the living hell out of who did this and make sure the bastard gets what he deserves!"

Everyone nodded and cheered in agreement, before Rise turned to the group, a concerned look on her face. "Senpai doesn't seem to be that much farther, but I feel his presence getting weaker, so it's getting a bit hard to tell."

Getting up, Yosuke dusted himself off, looking at everyone else with determination. "Then let's save him right now! No more breaks!" he turned to the blonde and lightly gripped his shoulder. Teddie lightly looked over at Yosuke, his eyes covered with concern.

"You're gonna help us save him, right, Teddie?" those blue eyes lightened with a fighting spirit at Yosuke's words.

"Of course! This time, I won't fail in protecting Sensei!"

Yosuke grinned with everyone else and they quickly continued on their way to where Souji was apparently located. Surprisingly, it only took them a couple of minutes before the scenery changed to represent their leader's hidden feelings. Everything was white, black lines distinguishing objects from one another. It was like a newly bought colouring book. The group stared at the sign in front of the entrance before exchanging confused glances.

'_No entry if weapons go past this point. Leave any weaponry in front of this sign._'

"W-What should we do?" Chie asked, looking from her grieves to the sign.

"We leave our weapons." Yosuke stated bluntly, dropping his twin daggers on the ground. "If it's what we have to do to save him, we'll damn well do it."

"But what if we get our asses kicked?" Kanji yelled, nearly throwing his shield into Rise's face.

"Then we get our asses kicked, or we run."

They would listen to what was said to save Souji.

After everyone else reluctantly placed their weapons down, the entrance suddenly burst full with colours, a sunset off in the distance. Not even bothering to look at the scene, both Yosuke and Teddie waltzed inside, the colours fading back to white as it reached the stairs at the end of the long, narrow hallway.

"His is…different than our places." Yukiko whispered as they edged closer to the stairs.

"Yeah…I don't sense any shadows at all." Rise noted, glancing around.

Reaching the top of the stairs, the group stared at the next sign that blocked the door.

'_Will you listen?_'


	8. Chapter 8

Delayed Player 8

"What should we do?" Yukiko questioned, staring in disbelief.

"Yeah, there's nothing we can give him." Chie replied, equally confused.

"I believe…" Naoto muttered, "We have to give him an answer…"

"An answer?" the girls turned to the detective.

"We'll listen, partner." Yosuke stated, waiting for the sign to move and the colours to appear. The sign didn't move, but dull colours slowly seeped into the walls. They weren't vibrant like before. The words on the sign quickly morphed into a different sentence.

'_Promise you won't be angry?_'

Teddie's face grew solemn, "We could never be angry with you, Sensei."

The sign quickly disappeared as the rest of the colours bloomed fully. The group slowly walked into the newly opened room and the colours yet again faded back to white. Once they got to the middle of the room, the door immediately slammed shut and the teenagers looked around hesitantly.

"Hey, there's another sign over here!" Kanji called, beckoning everyone to the door on the opposite end of the room. It was blank.

"I-It doesn't say anything." Chie stated the obvious, before she glanced at everyone, "What do we do?"

"We shut up and listen." Yosuke replied, holding back a sigh. Everyone gave him a weird look, but remained quiet and slowly started to wander around the small room again. Nothing was in the room like all the other places, which would contain drapes or hot tubs or…poles. Nothing was there. But Yosuke knew the place meant something, the empty canvases of the walls probably meant that their leader felt empty inside. But…why? He always looked so happy, was always optimistic, and seemed to enjoy helping people. He had so many part time jobs, it amazed the brunette at how he could handle all of that, school, _and_ the murder cases. Yosuke wondered how his friend could ever feel empty, with so much stuff to do, and with all his friends, he just couldn't fathom it. It seemed…impossible.

But then again, he guessed everyone's inner emotions seemed impossible to other people. Remembering Teddie's and Kanji's shadows compared to what they were actually like was phenomenal.

"_Mommy…_" Yosuke jumped when scribbles started appearing on the walls, a child's voice echoing across the room. The rest of the group slowly gathered behind the brunette in awe, eyes wide and mouths agape as drawings slowly started making themselves semi-clear. It looked as though a young child was drawing himself crying, his parents beside him with suitcases.

Was the boy Souji?

"_Mommy…_" the child's voice echoed again, "_Mommy… Don't leave… I-I don't want you to go!_"

"_I'm sorry, Sweetie, but we have to go. Mommy and Daddy have to leave for work._" A woman's voice responded.

"_B-But… But y-you're going to America! Y-You work here!"_

"_Honey, it's complicated. But don't worry, Grandpa will take care of you._"

"_No!"_ the child screamed as the drawing of the young boy seemed to animate into punching the air, "_No! I don't want Grandpa! I want you!"_

The man in the drawing moved closer to the boy, and the sound of a slap echoed along the room, and the group of teenagers winced. The child started bawling, the deafening cries hurting Yosuke's ears as they bounced off the walls as the drawing of the boy shook as tears flew off his face.

"_Souji, that's enough!_" a man now yelled, "_We'll be back in a year, so quit acting like a spoiled brat!_"

"_Dear, please! He's only six, he's not used to his parents being gone!_"

"_Well he better get used to it__._"

The drawings on the wall slowly faded back to white, but young Souji's cries and sniffles could still be heard echoing.

"_I said that's_ enough_, Souji!_" then there was another slap. Then there was yelling and more crying, before it all just disappeared and the walls were shot with colours. An airport was painted on the walls, a young Souji holding his Grandpa's hand as it seemed he was staring straight at the teenagers, his eyes still soaked with tears. He was, in reality, looking past them, at the wall behind them at the painting of the plane flying off.

"P…Poor Senpai…" Rise whispered, wiping away her own tears. Yosuke clenched his fists and looked away from wall, before quickly heading to the newly opened door where the empty sign used to be. He didn't wait for the others, he heard them slowly follow after, the girls (other than Naoto, of course) quietly crying. For some reason, Yosuke felt like they'd be crying a lot more later on.

Heading down the hall, which again faded to white, Yosuke entered the next room which looked exactly the same as the last one had when they first arrived. A blank sign was standing right where it was before, blocking the door. Stepping in the middle of the room, the brunette sighed and fiddled with his headphones as he waited for everyone else. Had Souji's father beaten him a lot as a kid, or was it just that time? And how many times did the guy have to be separated from his parents? When they asked him around his arrival in Inaba, he'd faltered, and then King Moron started ranting how they were all horny bastards. They never brought the subject up again, because the murders and kidnappings were the things on their mind at that point.

Yosuke grit his teeth. How much had Souji kept from them? He knew mostly everything about his teammates, yet they knew practically jack about him. Sure, they were learning now, but thinking about it pissed Yosuke off. He wasn't exactly sure why, though.

When the others arrived in the room, not one of them spoke a word. A couple minutes later, and the drawings started appearing on the walls, still appearing like a young child was drawing them. This time, instead of a child and his parents, it was a child and his grandpa.

"_Grandpa… Mommy and Daddy forgot my birthday, d-didn't they?_"

"_Of course they didn't, Souji. They must just be so busy that they haven't been able to ship your gift yet._"

"_B-But…it's been…two weeks since my birthday…_"

The grandpa seemed to have no reply to that, so he changed the subject, "_How about we go get some ice cream, huh?_"

"_O-Okay!_" the drawings slowly morphed, the people now standing outside what appeared to be an ice cream store.

"_So, what flavour do you want?_" the grandfather asked, ruffling the boy's hair.

"_Can I get strawberry?_"

"_Of course y—_"

"_G…Grandpa?_"

The older man fell on his knees, and the teenagers watched as the drawings slowly faded to white, the cries from a young Souji screaming for his grandpa echoing profusely around the room, the elder's strangled breaths barely audible. Sirens started blaring, police started asking questions, and they could barely hear Souji tell a cop the only relative he knew close-by was his aunt. The sounds died down, and a couple seconds later, a young woman could be heard.

"_Souji, are you all right?_"

"…_D-D-Did Gr-Grandpa die…b-because of me…?_"

"_No, no, of course not, why would you think that?_"

"…_I…I… Why d-does everyone…l-leave me? D-Do they hate me?_"

"_Oh, Souji, nobody hates you._"

"_Th-then how c-come M-Mommy and Daddy left? H-How come Grandpa l-left me f-f-forever? H-How come I h-have no friends?_"

"_Souji…_"

"_A-Am I…bad luck?_"

The voices stopped, and the walls were once again covered in a complete painting. A young Souji and a woman everyone assumed to be his aunt were standing before a grave. Yosuke imagined the rest of these rooms wouldn't be holding anything happy in them.


	9. Chapter 9

Delayed Player 9

Yosuke'd been right. After his grandpa died, Souji lived with his aunt. She was fired from her job a couple weeks after his arrival and they had to pack up and live with one of her friends.

"_Souji, you've been so quiet. What's wrong?_"

"_Auntie…_" the boy had burst out bawling.

"_Shh, shh, no crying. Now tell your Aunt what's wrong._"

"_I-I am b-b-bad l-uck! I-I-I m-made you l-ose your w-work!_"

"_Aw, Souji, no, no, you're not bad luck. You're not, sweetie, shh, don't say that. _"

"_B-B-B-B-But— _"

"_Shh, that's enough. You're not bad luck, Souji, okay? My boss was just a mean old jerk._"

"…_P-Promise…?_"

"_Promise._"

"_P-Promise...n-nothing bad'll h-happen a-again…?_"

"_I promise._"

A couple months passed by and Souji left for school. His aunt and her friend had left for the mall, only to get struck in a hit-and-run. The friend didn't make it and Souji's aunt became comatose.

"_You b-broke your p-promise, Auntie! Y-You lied to me, A-Auntie! I-I-I _am_ b-bad luck! I'm sorry! I'm s-sorry…! I'm sorry… W-wake up… Auntie…p-please…_"

The girls (and Teddie) had all burst out into tears, including Naoto… Well, the Detective Prince hadn't exactly burst into tears, she just tried to hide the fact she could actually cry as she hid her face with her hat. Kanji was too…shocked (?) to say or do anything, and Yosuke had mixed emotions. Souji…he should have told them something! Something so they didn't have to learn about his past like _this_; in drawings on a wall. Drawings on a wall drawn by a (Yosuke could only assume) younger Souji. Drawings about his grandpa's death and his aunt's comatose state. It made the brunette absolutely sick to his stomach.

When the room was filled with colour and a young, crying Souji going back home with his mom and dad was painted across the walls (his father looking positively pissed for the fact Yosuke could only assume was missing work), the Investigation Team didn't move right away. The girls (and Teddie) were going to have to calm down before they moved on.

"I…I d-on't wanna g-go… I don't…!" Rise sobbed, shaking her head profusely, her pigtails becoming lethal weapons.

Yosuke sighed and stared at the idol, "We said we'd listen, Rise. That includes you."

"B-But…!"

"Rise, we're doing this to save him! Think about it!" Yosuke didn't know why she was acting like this. Sure, he understood she was severely upset by it, but there was nothing they could do about their leader's past. All they could do was watch and learn the information he'd never bothered to share with them. Why he didn't though, still bothered Yosuke. He could have told them at any time he wanted. They would have listened. They would have always been there to listen to him. So why didn't he say anything? Was he afraid of what they'd think? Is that what that sign had meant?

'_Promise you won't be angry?_'

How could they be angry at him for something that wasn't his fault? For something that was pure coincidence? Bad coincidences, yes, but they still could never get angry at him for something like _that_. It'd be inhumane!

"You want to save him, don't you?"

Rise sniffed, before glaring at Yosuke, "Of c-course I do!"

"Then let's go."

Without waiting for a reply, Yosuke went ahead through the door and into the hall…which was longer than the one they went through to get to that room. It was way longer. He couldn't see the next door. Walking down the hall, he gave a quick glance over his shoulder, watching everyone else slowly walk behind him. The white walls slowly started fading to a dull grey.

"_Souji, what the hell did you do!_" his father yelled.

"_I-I'm sorry… I-I didn't k-know I was b-b-bad luck!_"

"_Of course you are. You were never supposed to be-_"

"_Yuudai, shush!_"

"_M-Mommy…?_"

"_Honestly! Shiori, he has to learn at some point!_"

"_Well, not now, after what the poor thing's been through!_"

"_You think I give a damn about that!_"

"_Your father just died and your sister's in a coma, Yuudai!_"

"_Your point?_"

"_You… I don't believe you! How can you just act like they broke their arm or something! This is serious!_"

"_What's serious is that we had to fly all the damn way back here to take care of that little piece of 'bad luck'._"

"_Honey, please! He is not bad luck! He's just a boy who underwent traumatic events! Be more sympathetic!_"

"_I-I'm…s-sorry…_" Souji was crying harder than before. Yosuke could barely hear his words through all the hiccupping, coughing, sniffling and sobbing.

"_Oh, no, don't cry, Sweetie. It's okay. Everything's going to be okay! See, Yuudai! Look what you've done!_"

"_Oh, please, he's always been a little crying bitch. And he cost me my damn promotion!_"

"_Don't you dare call him that again! And who cares about your promotion!_"

"_I do!_"

"_What about your family, Yuudai!_"

"_If I don't get promoted, I won't be _able_ to support my family, Shiori! Now if we didn't _have_ that little brat, I wouldn't be worried about__-_"

"_Enough! Just shut up! I don't want to hear it! Just get us home!_"

"_Whatever floats your boat._"

"…I…I don't like Sensei's dad…" Teddie muttered, chewing on his lower lip. Yosuke didn't like him either.

"How horrible…" Chie commented, looking around the hall as the walls continued to darken into deeper shades of gray. No drawings were moving with them, only the voices that echoed across the walls. But for now, those voices stopped, the only thing to be heard were the team's footsteps as they continued down the seemingly endless hallway.

Yosuke had his fists clenched so hard from the anger that kept rising every time Souji's father talked, he was surprised his nails hadn't broke through the skin. If he ever met the bastard… Oh, he was certain he'd be getting sent to jail.

Why didn't Souji say anything? Yosuke couldn't stop wondering and asking over and over again. He could understand why his friend would want to keep it a secret, but…it still was better to share these things with the ones you trust, wasn't it? If Yosuke hadn't talked to Souji about anything…he wondered how he would have ended up. How much was Souji suffering inside? How much pain did Souji see throughout his life? Obviously a lot, but his friends couldn't see just how much he suffered by looking at it through drawings and hearing it through voices. They couldn't unless they felt it themselves, but they hadn't, but they could have listened to him talk about it. They could have lent him a shoulder to cry on. They would have been there for him, they always were! So, why the hell did he not say a word to them? What was he hoping to accomplish by keeping it all to himself?

Yosuke grit his teeth, stopping in his tracks and slamming his fist into the wall beside him.

"Woah! What was that for, Yosuke?" Chie yelled, and Yosuke could hear her angrily stop on the ground, and he could see her flailing her arms around like she did when she got mad from the corner of his eye.

"I just don't get it!" the brunette turned to the group, who stared at him in confusion. "Why didn't he ever tell us any of this? It makes no sense! He was there for us; he should have known we'd be there for him!"

The rest of the group continued to stare at him, fidgeting in silence as they tried to think of a reply, tried to think of a reason why Souji wouldn't say anything.

"Perhaps…" Naoto started, holding her chin whimsically, "Perhaps Senpai…was afraid as to what we might think? Or, perhaps he was hiding his past from us because he was ashamed of what had happened…"

"Or maybe Senpai just never wanted to talk about it. I mean, even we have a few things in our past we never told him about, right? Maybe he just never felt comfortable talking about any of it." Kanji shrugged, before waltzing past Yosuke. "Now, are we just gonna stand here talkin' about shit only he can answer, or are we gonna save Senpai?"

Instead of replying enthusiastically, everyone just gave a curt nod and continued down the narrow hallway, the walls turning darker the farther they went.

Yosuke still didn't understand it though. He was always uncomfortable talking about his true feelings with Souji, he was sure everyone else had been, too. Sure, he'd seen all their inner selves from their Shadows, but it was still embarrassing to admit your true feelings by your own will. When he'd talked to Souji, he knew his friend could tell he was anxious.

"It's okay, Yosuke," he'd say, patient smile on his face as always, "take your time. I understand."

But did he _really_ understand? He never went up to Yosuke and asked if they could go somewhere to talk. He never went up to Yosuke and asked for a shoulder to cry on. No, Yosuke went up to _him_ and asked if they could go somewhere to talk. He went up to _him_ and asked for a shoulder to cry on.

And Souji would always smile that patient smile and say, "Of course; anything for a friend."

So just _why_ couldn't Yosuke be the one to say that line to him? Why couldn't Yosuke be there to listen? Why couldn't _any_ of them done that? _Why_?

Why couldn't Yosuke smile that patient smile as Souji mustered up his courage to say what he wanted to say? _WHY?_

He wanted to be there for his friends, and Souji was his best friend… So why didn't Souji let him be there beside him when he needed it? Why did Souji take his pain and suffering and keep it locked inside himself? Why didn't he say anything? He should have said something, anything! Yosuke would have gone running! They all would have gone running! Did…Souji not trust them? Why wouldn't he? They were his team, his friends, right? Had they done something to kill his trust? Why didn't he say anything? Why?

"_M-Mommy…?_"Yosuke nearly jumped out of his skin when the young voice of his leader popped back in to echo along the hall.

"_Yes, Sweetie, what is it?_"

"_H-How long are you and Daddy…staying…?_"

"_Well… We're staying for another two years. Our boss sort of got angry when he learned about what happened when the police phoned. He was worried for you, you know. He told us to come home immediately and to take good care of you._"

"_B-But… He doesn't even know me… A-And he took you away…_"

"_Souji, he didn't 'take us away', we had to leave to make money to feed you. And, well, yes, that's true, he doesn't know you, but our boss…had a daughter and…_"

"_S-She…died…?_"

"_Sadly, yes… She was killed in a hit-and-run… I believe she was around your age. After the incident, our boss started hoping nobody would have to suffer through the same thing that he did._"

"…_Oh… I-I'm gonna m-make him a card! I-I'm gonna t-tell him I'll… Oh…w-wait… I-I can't…_"

"_Hm? You can't what? I'm sure he'd be delighted to receive a card from you._"

"_B-But I c-can't… I-I'm bad l-luck…_"

"_No, you're not, Sweetie, you're not bad luck. You're my pride and joy."_

"…_B-But w-what about Grandpa a-and Auntie? D-Daddy even said I was…_"

"_Oh, don't listen to your father. He's just been a giant grouch from the plane ride and the long car drive and learning what happened to his dad and sister__._"

"…_D-Daddy h-hates me…_"

"_No he doesn't…_"

"_Y-Yes he does! H-He's always c-calling me names a-and hitting me! H-He hates me!_"

"_Your father… He doesn't hate you, Sweetie, he just…he just doesn't know how to relieve his anger, so…he takes it out on you. It's horrible, I know. I've tried to tell him to stop, but it seems he won't listen to me…_"

"…_W-Would you and Daddy…be h-happier without me…?_"

"_Of course not, Sweetie, we love you. Now, go to bed. You've had a long day._"

The walls around them kept getting darker and Yosuke was worried. Why weren't they turning into vibrant colours like the other hallways? What was wrong? Was Souji's life going to be flipped absolutely upside down after this hallway? Yosuke assumed the next room would be him going to live with another relative somewhere, so…just what happened? Damn it, he wanted to just run the rest of the way through, but he guess the hall wouldn't stop until the voices were done.

"_Mommy… I d-don't want you t-to go…_"

"_Oh, I know you don't, Sweetie, but you know we had to. Don't worry, nothing bad will happen while you're with your cousin, all right? Honoka will take good care of you, and if you get hurt, she'll make it all better._"

"_Sh-She was the d-doctor…r-right?_"

"_That's right! Good job!_"

Yosuke could only guess what was going to happen. None of the thoughts were pleasant in the least.

"_So, Souji-chan, I hear you're shy. Is that true?_" A new voice echoed along the walls. It was a young woman Yosuke guessed to be Souji's cousin.

"…_U-Um…_"

Honoka laughed, "_So you _are_! Oh, how utterly adorable!_"

"…_Um… M-Miss…H-Honoka…?_"

"_You are so cute! But please, we're family, just call me Honoka, or Noka, if you like, okay? Not even my coworkers call me Miss._"

"_U-Um… N-Noka…? Uh…n-never mind…_"

"_Hm? What was it? You've got me curious now! Tell me!_"

"_U-Um… P-Promise not to l-leave me l-like Grandpa and A-Auntie…?_"

"_...I don't know if I can._"

"…_I-It's c-cuz I'm b-bad luck, i-isn't it?_"

"_No. It has nothing to do with you, Souji-chan. It'd all be my fault._"

"_W-Why…? A-Are you bad l-luck, t-too?_"

"…_I guess you could say that…_"

The walls quickly darkened to black and a door appeared in sight. Yosuke took a deep breath, trying to brace himself for whatever this room would contain. Kanji was the one to get to the door first, and he turned to the group before asking, "Ready?"

Everyone gave a collective nod and Kanji quickly opened the door. The moment they were all in the room and the door slammed shut, screams quickly flooded the area. Loud, horrid, distorted, agonizing screams. The walls were smeared in arrays of colours that hurt Yosuke's eyes, and he could barely see the…people (?) that were moving like they were underwater. The outlines on the objects started warping into other things, but one was close enough that Yosuke could tell it was human. It was…a girl, he thought, and her eyes kept sinking into her face, her nose was slowly moving towards her ear and her frown kept growing and growing and growing it literally ripped off her face.

"_SooOo-O-u-JIIIii-i—CHA-AaA-nN_"

The disembodied mouth still talked. This distorted, horrid, agonizing scream was the loudest.

"_AAaaA-AnNnNS-S-s-SWE-eeeEeEER M-EEee"_

The woman's eyes suddenly exploded, and her face started melting. The people in the background continued to scream as they slowly morphed into things Yosuke couldn't clearly tell what they were.

And things slowly continued to get worse from there.

The words and screams became so distorted and loud that no words (if any were said) would ever be able to get unscrambled from the mess. He ended up having to cover his ears with his headphones to try to block the screaming and yelling. It didn't help in the slightest, if anything, the sounds just got louder and louder and _louder_.

He wanted to look away, he wanted to blast his headphones so he wouldn't have to hear this. His eyes were hurting, his ears were hurting, his head was hurting, and he wanted it to be over. He had no idea what the hell was going on, but he wished it would end soon. He knew he couldn't look away though, or stop listening. None of them could. They promised Souji. They promised they would listen.

Yosuke wasn't sure how long the walls continued distorting images, and making those arrays of colours brighter and brighter until Yosuke felt he'd go blind. He wasn't sure how long he watched things explode gruesomely into other objects. He wasn't sure how long those screams of distortion continued to grow louder and louder and louder and louder and _louder_.

He wasn't sure how long they were all sitting there, watching that happen. But when it all just _stopped_ so suddenly, none of them were complaining.

"Wh…t…s th…t?" Yosuke turned to Chie. He could barely hear her talk, and judging by her expression, she was barely able to even hear herself.

The teenagers glanced awkwardly at one another for a couple of very, _very_ silent minutes. Yosuke sometimes glanced towards the exit, only to find the blank sign still guarding the door, and he always ended up sighing in exasperation. If whatever-the-hell-that-was happened again, Yosuke wasn't sure if he could take it. He would try, oh he would most definitely try, but he wasn't sure…

"C-Can everyone hear now?" Chie asked, wincing lightly at the sound of her voice. Everyone gave slow nods. "O-Okay… Uh… Does anyone know what that was…?"

"I know it hurt my ears." Teddie whined, lightly rubbing his ears as to emphasize the fact.

Yosuke scoffed, "I think we all knew that."

"The door still has not opened. There's probably still something more we have yet to see." Naoto commented, continuing to stare at the wall. The rest of the group watched as well, the now-white walls remaining white.

"_Souji-chan! Souji-chan, wake up! Answer me! Souji-chan!_"

The screams were not distorted, nor as loud. Just panicked, but normal.

"_Damn it, what the _Hell_ were you guys thinking? He's an eight year old kid! I only brought him here because I didn't want him to be at home by himself, and then you jack him up on morphine? What the Hell's wrong with you, you idiots!_"

"_W-We're sorry, Seta-chan, we-_"

"_You…_what_? Thought it would be funny to see an eight year old get high?_"

"_N-No! We… We thought he was a…patient and…_"

Slowly, outlines of people slowly started to fade into view. One was a woman, two looked like young men, and the third was a young Souji in a bed. The drawings were much more clear than before, but still messy like a child's.

"_You_ thought_? No, I don't think you thought anything through! Did you even ask? NO! You just stuck a needle in his arm and filled his veins full of morphine! You're fired!_"

"_N-No, please, let us expla—_"

"_There's nothing TO_ _explain! Now get the hell out before I strangle both of you!_" the men quickly left the picture.

"…_N…Noka…?_" Souji sounded so weak that it made Yosuke physically sick to his stomach. He only wondered how pale he looked.

"_Oh god, Souji-chan, I'm so sorry! I-I was helping another patient! I should have kept an eye on you, I'm so sorry… _"

"…_I…I d- don't like…hospitals…a-anymore…._"

"_I'm so so so so so sorry, Souji-chan, forgive me…_" Honoka sobbed, hugging the young boy.

"…_I…d-don't l-like d-doctors…a-anymore…_"

"_Oh, Souji, please forgive me… I-I never w-wanted anything like t-this to happen… P-Please believe me…_"

"_I…don't like y-you a-anymore… N-Noka… P-Please…let g-go…_"

"_S-Souji-chan… I…_"

"…_L-Let go… Let go let go let go let go let go!_"

The woman slowly let go of the young Souji and walked away, continuing to whisper something under her breath as she disappeared from the wall. Then so did Souji and the bed.

Slowly, a complete painting replaced the blank walls, and Souji was staring lifelessly at his older cousin's body, which hung limp in a noose.

"…_I-It was your fault… You're a d-doctor… D-Doctor's are evil… I-It w-wasn't my fault this t-time…_"

And suddenly, Yosuke was reminded of the first time they entered the TV world and found Yamano's manifested world, with the noose hanging over the chair. And Yosuke remembered Souji's look as he stared intently at the noose. It was enough to make bile rise in Yosuke's throat.

That was the brightest he'd ever seen those eyes shine with delight before.


	10. Chapter 10

Delayed Player 10

"Yosuke, are you all right? You got so pale all of a sudden…" Chie started waving her hand in front of his face when he didn't reply. "Yosuke…?"

Swallowing the bile, Yosuke avoided Chie's gaze, clasping his hand over his mouth since it felt like he'd still throw up if he didn't. "C-Chie…do you remember when…" he faltered. Should he tell her? He didn't know… She was there, did she remember herself? Judging by her clueless look, it seemed like she didn't.

"What? What am I supposed to remember?" She didn't sound annoyed or anything close to it, she sounded confused.

Blankly staring back at the painting, Yosuke could only see Souji's ecstatic eyes when they were in Yamano's manifested world inhabiting the face of that lifeless looking child. The bile managed to enter his mouth this time, and he almost choked when he made it go back down.

"Yosuke?" She still sounded confused and anxious. Yosuke couldn't resist as everyone slowly coaxed him into sitting down. He hadn't realized how badly his knees had been shaking. Chie and Yukiko kneeled down next to him, everyone else standing and staring in concern, unsure of what to do or what was going on.

"Yosuke, what's wrong?"

Shakily, Yosuke removed his hand from his mouth and stared at the short-haired girl, "D-Do you remember…when we first entered the TV?"

"Huh? Y-Yeah… Why?"

"Remember… W-When we got to that announcer's room…?"

"Th-That creepy room with the defaced pictures and the noose?"

"Yeah, that one… D-Do you remember… Souji's face…when he looked at the noose?"

Chie frowned, "His…face? No… I was so freaked out I wasn't really paying much attention… Why? Does it have something to do with…" she slowly turned to the wall.

"He…" Yosuke paused, taking a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves, "He looked…_happy_."

Chie's eyes widened, "W-What? A-Are you sure? I mean…we didn't have our glasses back then, maybe the fog was making you see things?"

Taking another deep breath, Yosuke slowly stood back up, "…Maybe…" once he got back on his feet, the brunette gave a shaky smile. "Heh, sorry about that. Let's keep going."

"Are you sure you don't want to rest some more? You're still quite pale…" Yukiko commented, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, Senpai, it wouldn't do us any good if you passed out, right?" Kanji added, folding his arms.

Yosuke sighed and walked over to the newly opened door, "I'll be fine. We can't waste anymore time. You know how pale Souji looked on the TV, right? Probably paler than me, right? We have to get to him soon."

"Yosuke…"

"C'mon! We can't waste anymore time!" And he was the first one to walk into the hall again. It was long, like the other one. The walls were already tinted black.

"…_She's starting to smell…_"

"…_Should I call the police?_"

Souji was talking to himself. A chill ran down Yosuke's spine at how emotionless yet absolutely cynical the boy sounded compared to the stammering child they'd heard only minutes ago. Was this how Souji acted inside? Was that patient smile just…a practiced smile? What was their leader thinking about in that head of his?

"…_No… The neighbours can phone__._"

"…_I don't have to help evil get sent to rest._"

"…_That's what cops are for, right?_"

"…_I'm just bad luck. But this was her fault. It wasn't mine. This never will be my fault._"

"…_It was all Noka's fault. All her fault. The police better realize that._"

A phone started ringing.

"_...Hello?_"

"_Souji, it's Mommy! How are things with Honoka? Are you having fun?_"

"…_Yes._"

"_Hm? What's the matter, Sweetie? You sound different._"

"…_It's nothing, Mom._"

"_M-Mom…? Souji… Are you sure…_" the woman sounded absolutely choked. "_C-Can I speak to Honoka?_"

"…_She's not in._"

"_She said she wouldn't leave you at home by yourself… But, all right, tell her I phoned and for her to call me back when she gets home. I love you, Sweetie._"

"…_Love you, too._"

"_Bye bye._"

And then there was the dial tone. Then silence. Young Souji said no more. The door suddenly appeared and Yosuke almost walked right into it. He stared in disbelief. There was another sign. And the words were laughing at him. Laughing at all of them. When everyone else caught up and stood behind him, Yosuke could see all their shocked faces without even having to look at them.

'_This won't be my fault either. It was all yours._'

And the sign disappeared, the door opening by itself. There was nothing in the room. The group gave each other worried glances before heading in. Waiting for a couple of minutes, nothing happened. There were no voices, no sounds, no pictures on the wall, absolutely nothing, but their exit was closed and their entrance was locked tight as well. But there was something odd about the sign blocking the exit…

Curious, Yosuke walked closer towards it, blinking at the words.

'_Naoto has to stay in this room. Does she agree to this?_'

"Naoto…" Yosuke quietly called the detective over, and said nothing more as he stared at the sign.

"I…I see…" Naoto seemed distraught, before a small smile graced her lips. "But I agree. We'll do what we can to save Senpai, correct?"

"Yeah…"

The door opened, and everyone slowly pooled out, save for Naoto. She gave a quick tip of her hat before the door closed again and the rest of the group walked down the short hallway into the next room.

"Do you think Naoto-kun will be okay?" Yukiko asked as they wandered into the next room.

Kanji scoffed, "She'll be fine."

"I hope so…"

"I wonder why Naoto had to stay behind…" Teddie muttered as he walked towards the exit again, examining the sign, "…Oh."

The sign said the same thing as before, except asking for Teddie's acceptance.

"I…" the Shadow slowly turned to look at his friends. "I accept, Sensei…"

The sign disappeared and the door opened again, everyone leaving Teddie behind. The same thing happened in the next room, asking for Rise to stay behind. Then the next room asked Kanji to stay, the room after asked Yukiko, and the room after that asked Chie. Then Yosuke was all alone. Walking down the short hallway to the next room, the brunette was on edge. The signs never said why they had to slowly split up, they just kept asking for everyone's acceptance to stay behind. And apparently whatever was supposed to happen would be their fault? What did that mean?

Taking a deep breath when he finally got to the next room, he slowly opened the door and waltzed inside. He decided to go look at the sign just in case it said anything else. But, nope, it was absolutely blank.

"Yo…suke…" Yosuke's eyes widened, and he quickly turned his head to the side, almost snapping it. His Shadow was there…and it was crushing Souji…! It wasn't the humanized Shadow, it was the Shadow that manifested itself after Yosuke'd rejected the original one. The brunette was almost too shocked to move, before he reached in his pocket to grab his Persona's card.

"You bastard! Get off of him!" he screamed, reaching for his twin daggers before remembering they were at the entrance of the dungeon. Yosuke faltered, unsure of what to do. Would he try doing what Souji did to summon his Persona, by crushing the card? Yosuke faltered again. He'd never tried that before… Would it work for him? Better to try then do nothing, right?

"Susano-o! H-Huh…?" Yosuke stared at his Persona's card, confused, before his mouth dropped in shock. Susano-o was gone! The card was blank! Why? Did Souji render their Persona's useless when they entered? Like how they weren't allowed their weapons?

The Shadow laughed, and Yosuke glared intensely, before turning his gaze back to his struggling friend. Souji was staring at him hopelessly, trying to claw at the Shadow's frog-foot with his good arm. Yosuke had no idea what to do. He couldn't fight that thing without weapons; without his persona! What could he do? He felt so useless…

Dashing to Souji's side, Yosuke desperately tried to lift the Shadow's foot off of his friend. He couldn't move it an inch, and Souji was turning blue.

"Don't worry, Partner, I'm gonna get you outta here, okay!" he didn't realize he was crying. He just wanted his friend safe. He didn't care about Souji looking happy at the noose anymore; he just wanted his friend safe!

"You're gonna be okay! You're gonna be okay!" Yosuke tried reassuring both himself and Souji, as they both continued to try to move the obstacle. It was pointless. They couldn't do it. They weren't strong enough.

The Shadow laughed again.

Souji grew bluer.

Yosuke collapsed, shakily gripping on his friend's hand, muttering, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" over and over and over again. When he looked, Souji was giving him that ever-there patient smile, before screaming when Yosuke's Shadow started crushing the teenager deeper into the ground.

"Damn it, stop it you bastard!" Yosuke screeched, clawing at the Shadow again, glaring at the monstrosity. "Let him go! LET HIM GO!" the tears rolling down his face were of fear and anger. And they wouldn't stop. "I SAID_ LET HIM GO!_"

The Shadow laughed again, pushing Souji even farther into the floor. Yosuke swore he heard something snap, and Souji stopped screaming. The brunette shakily looked back at his friend, and he felt the urge to throw up again. Blood was seeping out of Souji's mouth, the teenager's eyes wide open and lifeless… Yosuke was so distracted that he barely even realized when his Shadow threw him into the wall on the opposite end of the room.

It seemed all the Shadow could do was laugh, because that's what it did again, and it pissed Yosuke off so much. Shakily lifting himself up from the ground where he sat, Yosuke clutched his chest in pain, glaring volcanoes at the chuckling Shadow.

"SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU BASTARD! YOU KILLED HIM!"

The Shadow just kept on laughing and Yosuke gripped his head, continuing to tell the Shadow to shut up shut up _shut up shut up shut up_. Why wasn't it saying anything? Why wasn't it taunting him? Why was it only laughing? Why did it kill Souji? Yosuke never wished, ever, for his friend to die, so WHY? Why did this happen? Why why why why _why_?

"Sometimes you can be an absolute idiot." Yosuke blinked, watching in absolute terror as Souji's lifeless (Well, it was a couple of minutes ago!) body turned to look at him, lifting the Shadow off of him now as if it weighed nothing more than a feather. Souji slowly dragged himself closer to the brunette, a sickening smile curling on his lips, blood continuing to pool out of his mouth. Those dead eyes reflected Yosuke's absolute fear.

"S-Souji…?" the brunette's knees were shaking as his friend slowly cornered him back against the wall. That smile was absolutely _frightening_. Yosuke missed that patient smile.

"It never crossed your mind…to _accept_ the Shadow, did it?" Souji questioned, raising his hand to Yosuke's neck, "You already accepted it once, right? No reason to try again, right? Heh, you're a bigger idiot than I thought." The steel-haired teen started chuckling.

That chuckle was absolutely _terrifying._

Souji clenched his pale hand tightly around Yosuke's neck, the brunette struggling to claw him off. Damn it! He was so freaking weak!

"Don't worry, _Hana-chan_, I won't kill you." Yosuke froze at the nickname, tears continuing to flow even faster down his face. "After all, if I kill you, I won't be able to tell you how much you _piss me off_."

Souji glared, but kept that smile on his blue face, "You still _lo-ove_ that Saki chick, right? Well, news flash, she's not coming back, Hanamura. Get the hell over her unless you want to become a necrophiliac. And you need to stop being a—" Souji faltered himself, and he quickly let the brunette go, falling on his back as he crawled backwards.

"No… No! I can't! I can't say it! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Souji looked absolutely panicked and Yosuke was absolutely confused, "I can't… You'll hate me… I can't say it… I can't… I can't…" he started bawling. But they weren't normal tears… They were blood.

"Souji…" Yosuke winced. From the pain in his chest thanks to his Shadow and Souji strangling him, he definitely had better days in the TV. Slowly, Yosuke walked over to his quivering friend, and knelt down beside him. Sure, he was definitely creeped the hell out, but this was still Souji. This was still his friend. It wasn't Souji's Shadow, Yosuke could tell that, but whatever it was, it was still Souji. "Hey, hey, Partner, one of your signs asked for us to promise that we wouldn't get angry. We promised. Go on, say what it is about me that pisses you off. I won't get angry. I won't hate you. I promise."

Souji stared at him, shaking his head, "No… No, Yosuke… M-My thoughts… N-Nobody… I don't want anybody… ever… to hear them…"

"I didn't want anyone to hear my thoughts either, but you and Teddie hea—"

"No! You don't understand! M…Most of my thoughts…can most likely…send me to jail… I-I try not to think like that! I-I really do! B-But… I… I can't help it… I-It just happens… I don't… want to think like that… A-And I was doing good, I was being a good boy before, thinking nice things…but then my bad luck made the murders start here… Then I swirled back into thinking like a felon…"

Yosuke blinked. He had no reply to that. At all. Souji's thoughts were…liable to send him to prison? The brunette found that impossible. That couldn't happen, could it? No… Of course it couldn't! Souji was helping to solve the murder case! There's no way in hell he could think of stuff that could send him to jail! There wasn't any way at all!

…Right?

"Yosuke… I hope you never have to hear the rest of my opinions on you… I hope nobody heard my full opinions on them… Please… Keep going… You'll find out why my thoughts are so dangerous…" Souji closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Yosuke gripped his friend's shoulders, only to gasp in astonishment when his fingers tore through the other teenager's arms. He was…made of paper? But… How?

Standing up, Yosuke shakily walked over to the Shadow, which he realized had become silent once Souji had…come back to life…? The brunette could see the Shadow was paper as well, and he was absolutely confused. Had he imagined all that? No… No his pain was real.

Yosuke quickly left the room, the sign gone from blocking the door. He noticed immediately it was another long hallway, the walls still tinted black. Yosuke gulped. All he could hear were whispers, but he couldn't tell what they were saying. The chills wouldn't stop running down his spine, once he realized all the whispers were from Souji. Not the Young Souji, but the Souji he knew now. But Yosuke couldn't hear a single spoken word. Was Souji making sure he didn't hear them? Were these Souji's other thoughts of him that he didn't want Yosuke to hear? Were they really bad enough to send the teenager to jail? It seemed absolutely unlikely… Souji couldn't think like that! T-There was no way!

After what felt like hours, taunted by the unintelligible whispers, the door to the next room finally appeared, and Yosuke slowly opened it, only to be greeted by the rest of his sobbing teammates. _Everyone_ was crying. Kanji, Naoto, Chie, Yukiko, Rise, and Teddie were all crying. Yosuke knew right away they were his actual friends, and they wouldn't be morphing into paper any time soon.

"S-Senpai… We were waiting for you…" Kanji stuttered, quickly wiping away the few tears that were still rolling down his face.

Yosuke slowly entered the room, watching as everyone tried to calm themselves down.

"Why're you all crying?" he questioned, even though he thought he knew the answer anyway. They probably witnessed something like he had.

"W-What? Did he not…? Well, you are his best friend…" Chie muttered to herself, biting her lip. "S-Souji…was getting mutilated by our Shadow's… A-And we couldn't do anything! Our Persona's were gone and then… and then—"

"Don't worry, you don't have to say anymore. It happened to me, too."

"Then why'd you ask!"

"I…was…just making sure…?" Yosuke sighed, dimly scratching the back of his head. "I'm sorry…"

Chie shot him a glare, before gently helping Rise to her feet, who Yosuke assumed had collapsed on the floor crying before he got there. After a couple of minutes of waiting, drawings slowly morphed themselves onto the wall, the people actually looking considerably more like people now.

Two people (one of which Yosuke could immediately tell was Souji) were sitting at a table, a cake placed perfectly in the middle. The woman beside Souji was smiling.

"_Happy eleventh birthday, Sweetie! You're turning into such a handsome young man!_"

"_Mom!_"

"_What? I'm just saying what's true._"

"_But still—it's embarrassing!_"

A man with a bottle in his hand slowly walked into the picture. "_Oh, grow up you little shit. You don't even have any friends to be embarrassed around._"

"_Yuudai!_"

"_I'm just tellin' the damned truth, Shiori. Don't get so emotional._"

"_I wouldn't if you would stop being such a prick to your only son!_"

"_Like the little shit gives a damn. Ain't that right, Thing?_"

"_He is not a 'Thing', or a little shit! He's your son!_"

"…_It's okay, Mom._"

"_No, it's not okay! Your father needs to learn—_"

"_Learn _what_, Shiori? Learn how to take care of a kid I never damn well wanted? Learn how to take care of a damned mistake? He was never supposed to be born! I don't have to learn to do anything for him!_"

"_You inconsiderate jackass! It's his birthday! What do you—_"

"_It's okay, Mom. I sorta figured it out. I don't care anymore. You love me, don't you, Mom? That's all I need. Dad, you can go drink yourself to Hell._"

"_Why you little—_"

Souji's father quickly placed his bottle (of sake, Yosuke could only assume) and lifted Souji out of his chair from his neck. Then he slammed Souji against the wall, and started punching him mercilessly. Souji's mom started screaming, trying to stop the assault, only to get slammed back into the table. The woman quickly got back on her feet and disappeared from the wall, the teenagers still watching Souji's dad beat the living hell out of him. The drawings added blood now, and they could see it all over the man's fists and Souji's face.

Yosuke could only grit his teeth. Why wasn't Souji fighting back?

Minutes passed, and Yosuke wished he could find Souji's dad and beat the living hell out of him himself. But he still couldn't help but wonder why Souji wasn't fighting back… Normally, people would try to fight back, right? So why wasn't he doing anything? He wasn't even yelling in pain, or yelling for help for God's sakes!

"_I may hate you and you may hate me, but know who the boss is in this house, you got that, _Thing_? Never back talk to me _again_ when I am in the damn room._" Yuudai spat, giving Souji one final smack before getting up and walking away before grabbing his sake and acting as if nothing ever happened. Souji shakily lifted himself up, wiping away the blood from his mouth on his sleeve. His mother came running back, crying, with something that looked like a washcloth in her hands.

"_Oh god, Souji, I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything! I phoned the police, a-and…_"

"_It's okay, Mom, don't apologize. And don't cry, it's all right, I'm all right._"

"_N-No you're not! Y-You're bleeding and—_"

"_Mom, trust me, I'm all right. It's just a split lip and a bloody nose. Probably a black eye too, right?_"

The woman collapsed, sobbing into her hands, Souji lightly hugging her as he grabbed the cloth and covered his nose and mouth with it, probably not to get any blood on his mom. Yosuke couldn't believe how mature he was acting. This was his eleventh birthday, right? Yosuke was definitely not that mature at eleven.

The drawings faded, and Souji, as well as his dad were at the door of their house, police asking them questions.

"_Sir, we—_"

"_Yeah, yeah, I know why you're here. Wife called and said I was beatin' my kid, right? Well, I wasn't, he just tripped and fell down the stairs, right, Souji?_"

"_Is this true, son?_"

"_Yes. I fell down the stairs. I apologize for making you come all this way._"

"…_Sir, may I ask what happened to your hands?_"

"_Hm? Oh, that. Scraped my hands when I fell outside._"

"…_Souji, I'd like to take you to the hospital to check out your injuries, is that all right?_"

Souji's face visibly grew panicked. "_I-I'm fine._"

"_Are you sure? You could have done more damage than you think…falling down those stairs._"

"_I-I'm sure. I'm fine. I'm fine._"

The drawings faded again, before reappearing with Souji cooped up in a room somewhere. He was smiling, humming a merry tune to himself. Yosuke blinked, trying to see what his friend was making. His eyes widened in realization.

It was a noose.

Souji continued to hum, "_I started from the inside working out… You're mocking me, mocking me… Nothing can save you from crashing to the ground… You're mocking me, mocking me…_"

Souji chuckled holding up his noose, lightly swinging it, "_Daddy, Daddy, nothing can save you from crashing to the ground~_"


	11. Chapter 11

Delayed Player 11

Yosuke's whole mind went blank. He stared lifelessly at the drawings on the wall as Souji continued to hum happily to himself, checking over the noose to make sure it was just right. This couldn't happen. It… It couldn't! There was no way in hell Souji would ever…

The drawing faded, before reappearing at what seemed like a balcony. Souji was tying the end of the noose on the railing, that placid smile still on his face. The doors behind him opened, and Yuudai came tumbling outside, bottle of sake still clenched tightly in his hand.

"_W-Whaatsh are…y-you doin' out sho late…Thin'?_" the man's speech was slurred, and it took less than a second for Yosuke to realize he was drunk.

"_I was wondering what it's like to fly._"

The man laughed, drunkenly swaying closer to the boy, before whacking him upside the head. "_Don'tsh be an…id…idiot._"

"_You wanted to be a jet pilot, right?_" Souji's tone of voice sent chills down Yosuke's spine. "_Maybe you can be one for tonight?_"

"_Whats're you talkin' about, Shouji?_"

"_You put this around your neck, and your dreams come true._"

"_Ishn't that…a noosh? Ya tryin' ta…k-kill me, boy?_"

"_A noose? What's a noose?_"

"_Don'—Don't play…d-umb with…me._"

"_Hm? I don't know what you're talking about, Dad. You sure you don't wanna experience what it's like to be a jet pilot for one night?_"

"_...G-Gimme that!_" the man snatched the rope and placed it around his head. There was an awkward silence, before Souji's dad snarled, "_It…It ain't doin' a d-amned thing…ya liar!_"

"_You have to jump._"

"_Huh?_"

"_You need to act like your dream. If you want to fly, you'll have to jump._" Souji giggled as his dad slowly stepped on the railing. "_Have fun._"

A full painting replaced the drawings, Souji, his mom, and police crowded around Yuudai's motionless body, which hung in Souji's hand-made noose, not that anyone else knew that. No words were spoken over the painting like last time, and Yosuke turned to the newly opened exit. The teenagers slowly wandered over to the door, nobody saying a word. There was nothing to say, but if there was, nobody _wanted_ to say it. The next hallway took the group by surprise. It wasn't like the other hallways, there were no walls, and the floors looked like they would crumble under their weight. It was the end of the dungeon. Taking a closer look at it, the design reminded Yosuke of the end of Nanako's dungeon, the light bridge leading them up to the pedestal surrounded by the angel statues. But, this time, it was a crumbling road leading to a pedestal with large broken statues that Yosuke couldn't tell what they were. Yosuke knew, without a doubt, Souji would be up there.

Even though he knew this was the end, Yosuke couldn't help but question why this section of the dungeon looked so much different from the rest?

Braving a step forward, Yosuke decided not to care about semantics right now. What they needed to do was save Souji! Sure, what Souji did still had Yosuke's brain running in circles, but that didn't matter right now! Souji was still his best friend! When his foot touched the pavement, Yosuke had absolutely no time to react when he fell through the road, Kanji just barely grabbing him in time. What seemed like hours, but was really only a minute or so, Kanji finally pulled Yosuke back up, the brunette staring at the road absolutely shocked. He watched as Chie shakily got on her knees and patted a part of the road Yosuke hadn't fallen through.

"It's…paper!" she exclaimed, immediately standing up. She glared, before hanging onto the side of the door, trying to reach out to the pedestal. She almost fell. "I wonder if all of it's paper…"

The group was silent. From what Yosuke saw, there was nothing underneath the paper roads. Were they expected to jump? By the sudden humming that Souji had sung in the drawing started echoing along the walls again, Yosuke was certain they'd have to jump. Without saying a word, Yosuke took a deep breath and leaped through the paper, everyone screaming after him. Yosuke winced as blows of electricity crashed into him. Had Souji been the one making the TV emit those harsh waves when they entered? No… He couldn't do something like that, could he? When Yosuke painfully reached the bottom, landing harshly on his back, he unsteadily lifted himself up, taking a look around.

There were nooses hanging everywhere.

Yosuke could tell right away they were real, they weren't made of paper.

When he heard Rise scream above him, Yosuke quickly ran out of the way as everyone else fell to the floor as he did moments ago, groaning in pain.

"Jeeze… That reminds me when we first entered the TV…" Chie muttered, rubbing the back of her head as she lifted herself up, before gawking at the nooses, everyone else slowly following suite.

"T-This…" Yukiko gulped, "They're fake…r-right?"

Yosuke shook his head, before looking around again. Other than the nooses, there was absolutely nothing in sight, everything else was pitch black. Yosuke wasn't sure how far he'd be able to walk without hitting a wall, or falling down a hole.

Naoto looked around, a distant look on her face, before she sighed, "I'm…going to have to file an arrest for Senpai after we rescue him…"

"What! Why!" Teddie looked scared, quickly hopping on his feet and staring at the detective.

"He murdered his father, Teddie. Even though the man was abusive, murdering anybody is a horrible crime." The detective looked as if she were about to cry, muttering something Yosuke couldn't hear.

"B-But Senpai didn't kill his dad…t-technically!" Rise stated, "He was the one who put the noose around his head and jumped, r-right? He could have just walked back inside!"

Naoto didn't reply. She just stared at the red-head before pulling her cap over her eyes. A silence quickly surrounded the group as it did plenty of times before. Yosuke continued looking around, straining to see if there was anything else in the room other than the nooses and the teenagers. He saw absolutely nothing. He couldn't even see the place from where they'd jumped, it was all black. He knew they should start moving, he knew they should try their damndest to keep trying to find their friend, but he suddenly felt so exhausted that he didn't want to move. Sliding to the floor, Yosuke grit his teeth. Why was he so tired all of a sudden?

"Damn, I'm beat…" Kanji sighed, looking glumly at the ground from where he sat. He hadn't bothered to get on his feet after the fall. The others slowly nod in agreement, and sit back down. Yosuke never even realized he blacked out until he was woken up with a sudden cold breeze. He realized immediately he was sitting on a chair, and chains were circling his waist. He wasn't tied to the chair, and he was about to stand up before a voice ran through the room.

"I wouldn't do that, _Hana-chan_." Lights suddenly encased the room, Yosuke's eyes widening at the sight before him. Souji was on a chair, just like him, but he was strapped to it, a noose tied around his neck. He was unconscious, but Yosuke was relieved when he noticed his friend still breathing. The brunette took a quick look around, noticing everyone else propped on a chair as well, chains tied around their waist. It didn't take long for Yosuke to see the chains connected to a rope close to the ceiling, which lead to Souji's noose.

And it didn't take long for him to realize that if they moved off the chair, they'd kill their friend.

Taking another look around, Yosuke couldn't see anybody else. Who was it that spoke to him? It wasn't Souji, or Souji's Shadow. It didn't sound a thing like Souji, and he knew he heard that voice before, but Yosuke couldn't figure out who it was. But there was nobody else in the room. Deciding not to worry about it right now, Yosuke fiddled with the chains around his stomach, seeing as how his arms were free. He couldn't figure out how to get it off, and he didn't want to slide it down his legs or above his head in fear of suffocating Souji. Tears of frustration were quick to run down his face.

Damn it damn it damn it! Why was he so useless? Why couldn't he do anything? If Souji was in his place, he would know what to do! He wouldn't be freaking out or crying or anything that Yosuke was doing! He would have figured everything out in a matter of seconds and set everybody free! Damn it!

"SOUJI!" He found himself yelling, the tears still sliding furiously down his face, "WAKE UP! WAKE UP, YOU BASTARD! TELL US… TELL ME HOW TO GET US OUT OF THIS! I CAN'T DO IT! I CAN'T BE A LEADER! I CAN NEVER BE LIKE YOU! SOUJI! I… I DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU DID IN THE PAST… JUST WAKE UP… WAKE UP AND LET US TAKE YOU HOME! PLEASE! Please… For the love of God, please…" He got no reply. Not from Souji, not from anyone, not even that mystery voice. He was the only conscious one. He was the only one talking.

"Souji, wake up! Wake up and tell me who threw you in here! I-I'll kick his ass, I swear to you I will... Please, Souji, wake up! You're scaring me! I don't want to see you die again, like I did in that room when my Shadow was crushing you! I'm sorry I failed you then! I-I don't want to fail you now! But… But I can't figure it out! I don't know what to do! I need you… No, WE need you, Souji! Please!" He cried, holding back the urge to stand up and run over there. He knew doing that would kill Souji, but Yosuke just so badly wanted to slap his friend awake, to KNOW he was going to be all right.

Yosuke sobbed, keeping his head down as nobody replied to him again. "Wake up… Souji… Please… WAKE UP, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"

"He can't hear you, you know." Yosuke quickly looked around. Again, Yosuke wanted to slap himself for not being able to tell who the voice belonged to. The name was on the tip of his tongue! Why couldn't he remember it? "If you don't figure a way out of this in ten minutes, I'll be hanging your friend here myself."

The voice laughed and Yosuke's fists clenched at his sides.

"Who the hell are you? Are you the one that threw Souji in here?" …his throat hurt.

"Maybe, maybe not. Hell, for all you know, I'm just part of the rest of the world around here: A figment of Souji's thoughts. There was so much more he was going to tell you, about how he actually thought of you, but I guess the little brat managed to block the words into whispers."

"You shut up! You don't know him!"

"Ah, but neither do you."

"…Yes I—"

"No, you don't. You know you don't. Trying to convince yourself that you know him in _here_, of all places, isn't going to work. You all thought he was perfect, right? The perfect friend, the perfect student, the perfect worker, the perfect leader, the perfect _everything_. You didn't care that he didn't talk much, you just wanted him to be a leader for your investigation, you wanted him to tire himself out as he lead two teams of people back and forth through dungeons, letting the first team rest while he still has to go out and fight. You wanted him to be there to listen to your sob stories, since nobody else gave a damn about your problems. But did you ever think he _wanted_ to be your leader? Did you think he ever _wanted_ to lead an investigation for murders that should have been left in the hands of the police? Do you think he actually gave a _damn_ about your problems? Do you? Do you know how much _stress_ you were putting on him?"

"I-I… w-why didn't he—"

"He didn't talk because he was _scared_. He was scared to go to prison, and he was scared of losing his friends. He may have thought you were all giant pains in his ass that pissed him off a lot, but the idiotic brat still cared for you, which is how I guess he made it so you couldn't hear his inner thoughts."

"…I told him to tell me. Why didn't he—"

"I just damn well told you! Are you deaf? Say it with me now: He. Was. _Scared_. Even if the cops couldn't hear his thoughts about you guys in this place, _you_ would. _You_ would hear everything. And trust me, you wouldn't want to be his friend after learning what he thinks about you."

"I would be his friend no matter what!"

"Even though he's thought about killing you? About killing all of you? He's even thought about killing Nanako. What do you say to that?"

"I say I don't give a damn! He never went through with killing us, now did he? He's still my best friend, no matter what happens! If he's sick, I'll be there! If he's in the hospital, I'll be there! If he goes to court, I'll be there trying to help! If he gets sent to jail, I'll visit him every day that I can! No matter what happens to him, I'll be there to make sure he's okay!"

"Then how come you weren't there when he was thrown in here, hm? How come you weren't there when that person shot him, hm? How come you weren't there when he was home-ridden for two weeks, hm?"

Yosuke faltered. "I… I—"

"Exactly. You're not a friend. You took advantage of this kid for all he was worth."

"No! No, I would never—"

"Shut up."

Yosuke glared, unable to talk back. Any words on his tongue instantly died and he bowed his head again, continuing to sob. Despite saying he didn't care, the fact that Souji thought about killing all of them had made it feel like everything he believed in was a lie. He didn't mind the fact that Souji hated him sometimes, Yosuke could understand that. At one point in their lives, friends hate each other, right? But… Kill them? He hated them so much at one point that he wanted to _kill _them?

"Oh, yeah, remember that ten minute time limit I mentioned? Yeah, you sorta screwed yourself up on that one, kid. You have four minutes left to figure out how to save Souji, or else I'm hanging him. Have fun~"

Yosuke grit his teeth, before wiping away his tears and staring at the rest of the team. They were still unconscious.

"They can't hear you either, kid. You're all alone with this one."

The voice laughed before disappearing again.

The brunette tightly shut his eyes. He didn't know how to figure this out! And there was no way he'd be able to do it in four minutes! He wasn't smart! He wasn't good at these things! If he played video games and he got to a puzzle, he would never be able to figure it out himself; he had to either ask someone or go online and look it up! He was useless! Damn it! What could he do? He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. It didn't help. If anything, it just made Yosuke panic more. He had no idea what to do. At all. He was scared. He was terrified. Absolutely terrified. If he couldn't figure out how to get out of the chains, Souji would die. But the only ways he could think of getting out of the chains would probably end up strangling Souji anyway. It would only happen for a second, but Yosuke was scared those few seconds would end up killing his friend, he looked so pale and his breath was already shallow. Damn it, he was absolutely, utterly useless!

After taking another look around the room, Yosuke shook his head, tears of frustration slamming down his face again, "W-What can I do…? Someone t-tell me, please… I-I can't do it alone… I… I'm hopeless…" He slowly looked at the form of a hazy Souji, sobbing even harder. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I failed you again… I… I…"

"W-Why am I so useless? Why am I n-nothing compared to you, Souji? Why? H-Help me, please! Help me help you! SOUJI!" He knew his friend couldn't hear him. He knew his friend wouldn't wake up no matter how much he screamed. He knew his friend wouldn't wake up ever again if Yosuke couldn't figure this out…and he already knew he couldn't. He didn't want to take a risk and push the chain over his head or down his legs in case it killed his friend anyway… But what if that was the only way?

Wait… Was the chair bolted to the ground?

Yosuke blinked, before grabbing under the seat and lightly lifted it up. It was free to move. Yosuke almost laughed in victory, until he realized that it didn't help the situation whatsoever. If he moved the chair back, would it still end up strangling Souji? Why would he even need to move the chair back? Why had he even thought of it in the first place? It was pointless!

"Sixty seconds left."

Yosuke paled. There was no way three minutes had gone by so fast! No way! Yosuke's eyes darted around the room in a panic, before he realized something else. If Chie and the others couldn't hear them, and if they stayed unconscious, why were they still chained up? Unless…they woke up and quickly tried to rush to Souji without thinking… And if they still weren't able to hear Yosuke, they'd have no idea of knowing… Screaming in a fit of rage, Yosuke quickly threw the chains over his head and ran to Souji. The brunette wished and prayed that snap he heard hadn't been the other teen's neck…

"Souji!" His throat was sore and his voice was hoarse, but that didn't matter. He quickly removed the noose from Souji's neck, pushed it behind the chair, and checked to see if his friend was breathing. It took a second, probably because of his utmost panic and fear, but Yosuke was finally able to see Souji's chest slowly rise and fall. If he wasn't already crying, he most definitely would be at that. This wasn't over though, he still had to wake up everyone else and find out how to release Souji from the straps bounding him to the chair. Maybe Naoto would know…

Yosuke stared in horror as another noose, this time made of different material that was most definitely not rope, flung in between him and Souji, before hands from seemingly nowhere pulled the noose back over Souji's neck.

"Time's up."

"NO! I SOLVED IT!"

"No, you didn't. You weren't even close."

Yosuke quickly gripped on the noose, trying to rip it away from his friend, only to find electricity surging through his body. He couldn't even scream as he was blown back onto the floor by his chair. He struggled to move, but his body disobeyed him.

"_You're mocking me, mocking me… Nothing can save you from crashing on the ground~_"

Yosuke could've sworn he heard everyone call either his name or Souji's before he blacked out.


	12. Chapter 12

Delayed Player 12

What was he supposed to have done? Yosuke didn't understand it. What else could he have done? He had absolutely no idea. How had he not been close? What would have been close? What? He struggled to think of something, _anything_, which would have been the right answer. He could think of nothing. Absolutely nothing. What was it he was supposed to do? What what _what_?

"Senpai…! Senpai!" Yosuke slowly opened his eyes, Kanji shaking his shoulder, panic on his face. Slowly sitting up, Yosuke winced at the pain that crowded through his body, but he tried to ignore it as best as he could.

"…S-Souji…" he muttered, unable to get a clear view. "I-Is he…"

Kanji stared at him blankly, before chewing on his lower lip. Yosuke ultimately feared the worst. He strained himself to stand up, only achieving that goal when Kanji helped him, putting the brunette's arm over his shoulder. The taller teen said nothing as they slowly walked over to where the chair Souji'd been strapped to had been located. Yosuke saw that second noose hanging in the air, and was relieved when he didn't see Souji's head locked in it.

"Damn restraints, open!"

"Teddie, Rise, quit standing there and assist us!"

Yosuke looked at his friends as they desperately tried to rip off the binds that kept Souji trapped in the chair. His breath hitched in his throat when he noticed Souji's lips were a pale blue, and that he wasn't breathing.

"No…" Yosuke wasn't sure how many times he cried that day, but the tears only started again.

"N-Naoto can't perform CPR when he's sitting like that…" Kanji mumbled, as they slowly got closer and closer. When they were finally within arm's reach, Yosuke immediately fell to his knees as he stared helplessly at Souji's lifeless body. He failed… He failed he failed he failed he failed. He was a failure. A failure a failure a failure a failure a bit fat stupid loser failure. His best friend was dead because of him, and he didn't know how many minutes everyone else had been trying to get the restraints unlocked, but if they didn't act soon, they'd never get their friend back. Ever. Yosuke found himself staring at the ground, before continuously punching it.

"DAMN IT!" he screeched, punching the floor harder each time his fist connected. This couldn't be happening… It just couldn't be! This _had_ to be a nightmare! There was no other explanation! It wasn't real! It wasn't it wasn't it wasn't!

Souji… He couldn't die! He couldn't! There was no way he could die! He was strong enough to defeat Yosuke's shadow by himself! He was strong enough to storm through Nanako's dungeon practically all by himself! He was the strongest person Yosuke knew! He honestly didn't give a damn about what Souji did when he was a kid! Sure, he still felt absolutely sorry for his friend, but… Damn it, he didn't know! He was so confused! His friend was dead…but he couldn't die… But he was… And it was his fault… But… But…

"Yosuke, move! We have to lay him down!" Yosuke blinked, before scrambling backwards at Chie's request. They got Souji free, but could Naoto…really bring him back to life? Yosuke watched as the group quickly, but carefully, placed their friend on the ground, Naoto immediately checking his neck for a pulse. Yosuke wanted to scream at her. He was turning blue, why would he have a freaking pulse? But it only took her a split second to start the CPR. Yosuke honestly had no idea how it worked, so watching Naoto do whatever-the-hell-it-was she was doing, he damn well hoped it would actually help. He slowly started wiping away his tears as everyone anxiously watched Naoto continue to perform CPR on their fallen friend. Yosuke knew the detective was doing all she had to not cry herself.

Chie shakily sat down next to Yosuke, clearing away her tears as well. "W-What happened anyway? I…I remember not being able to m-move… And I remember hearing you…screaming…then somebody else was talking… But I don't know what you were saying… Then I was finally able to move…and you were on the ground and S-Souji was…" Yosuke stared at her. So, they _had_ been able to hear him? Even if they hadn't heard the conversation, they still heard him.

"I…was being tested…" now it was Chie's turn to stare at him. "I was timed… I had ten minutes to figure out how to save Souji… But I started talking to whoever else was there… I was angry, and confused, and scared, but he kept telling me…about Souji and how he felt about us… Then I lost six minutes talking… Then I started thinking of how to get out… How to help him… then I only had one minute left… I-I panicked… I threw the chains over my head and ran to him, then took the noose off his head… But… But I was wrong! I failed! I killed my best friend and I don't know why! I don't know what the answer was!"

"You…took the noose off? But then how come…"

"There was another one… It fell from the ceiling, and hands that appeared from the shadows pulled it over Souji's head… I tried to get it off him, but it electrocuted me and I blacked out… I'm so weak… I'm so useless! I fucked up!" Yosuke punched the ground again, sobbing yet again as he slowly dragged his hands to his face. He hated crying so much, but he couldn't help it. He was filled with mixed emotions, he could barely tell them apart. He knew a lot of them were anger though, because he was most definitely furious at himself. What had he missed? What else had there been to that puzzle? If only he had an answer key for that…

"Yosuke, you didn't…screw up…"

"Y-Yes, I did! I killed him, Chie! Don't you want to Galactic Punt me or something? W-Whack me over the head?" he yelled at her, but he didn't look at her. He kept his face buried in his hands. He didn't want to look at anyone.

"You tried your best, right?"

"My best wasn't good enough! My best is shit! My best is nothing! I'm useless!"

Chie sighed, and Yosuke could tell she was getting agitated. "If you keep talking like that, I _will_ Galactic Punt you."

Yosuke said no more as he continued sobbing in his hands. He couldn't figure it out. No matter how many times he reeled it over and over and over and over in his head, he couldn't figure out what the answer was. He couldn't think of anything else he could have done. Was there a trick? A switch somewhere? But why would there be a switch? Could he have loosened the chains somehow? What was it he was supposed to do? He wanted an answer! He wanted to know! Why didn't that damn voice tell him? Why didn't it say what he was supposed to do after he failed? Why did it let him suffer? Why? He just…wanted to know why he failed to save his friend! Why he was the cause for his death! Why couldn't the others have been awake? Why couldn't they have helped? Why was it all put on him? He wasn't good at figuring these things out! He never was and never would be! Damn it!

Other than the fading sobs, and Naoto's strained breaths as she continued trying to revive Souji, the room was absolutely quiet. Nobody talked anymore. Nobody wanted to talk. Nobody had any idea what to say. Yosuke slowly lifted his head away from his hands. He didn't bother drying his face this time, there was no point; he guessed he'd be crying again in a matter of minutes. Teddie and Rise were side-by-side, standing next to Naoto and Souji. They were trying not to look at the scene, but Yosuke knew they couldn't help it. They wanted to make sure their friend was going to be okay. They wanted to make sure Naoto could save him. Yukiko had sat next to Chie, and the two girls were silently consoling each other. Kanji was dragging his fingers through his hair, pacing around the room. Naoto was still performing CPR, and Yosuke was starting to fear she wasn't going to be able to bring him back.

He couldn't tell how much time was passing. Before, when he was being judged, it felt like time went too fast. But now…it felt like it was moving way too slow. He could hardly stand it. He wanted to scream, to yell at it to go faster, so they would know if Souji would be all right sooner. But, there was one thing Yosuke did know. He knew it was better for time to seem like it was going slower. If a person was dead for a certain amount of minutes before or after someone tried to revive them, they were gone forever, right? Nothing could bring them back, right? Yosuke could only pray and hope the detective could revive Souji…

What seemed like hours, but could have actually been only a mere couple of seconds, Yosuke felt like everything was lost. There'd been no sign from Souji that'd he'd come back to the living. There'd been no sign at all. Not a twitch of the finger, not a cough, not a strained gasp, nothing. The brunette questioned if maybe Souji's neck was broken. Maybe that's why nothing was working… But wouldn't Naoto have realized his neck was broken when she checked for a pulse? Yosuke sighed, there was nothing he could do, and questioning absolutely everything wasn't going to help, if anything, it would just make him worry more. Standing up, he took another look around the room, deciding to question everything anyway, to take his mind off his friend. What had he missed? What hadn't he noticed? What was there that was the right answer to have saved Souji?

Heading back to the chair he was strapped in, Yosuke glared. As he thought, there was nothing else there. The only thing behind the chair was a wall, and the chains that had fallen. He already knew the other chairs would have been the same, and there would have been no way going to the others would have been right. He would have strangled Souji, well…he would have if he walked with the chains still around his stomach. Yosuke guessed he would have removed them, but even so, nobody would have woken up, he knew that. Whoever that voice belonged to, they were making sure Yosuke had to figure it out by himself… Not that he did.

There was nothing. He couldn't find anything that might have been the right answer. But again, he couldn't find anything when he was strapped to the chair, why would there be anything when he wasn't? Maybe…he was supposed to have said something? But…what? He'd said everything that was scouring through his mind at that moment…

And suddenly, there was coughing. It was weak, and if Yosuke had been racking his brain past its full thinking capacity, he knew he wouldn't have heard it. He turned quickly, a smile cracking on his face at the sight.

Naoto had done it. Souji was alive! He looked to be in extreme pain, but he was alive! Yosuke didn't bother hiding his fresh tears and he quickly rushed over, apologizing over and over and over again to his friend while everyone else praised the young detective, who was trying to cover her own tears.

"N-Now is not the time for celebration." Naoto finally commented, taking a deep breath, "We need to get Senpai out of here immediately. He's in dire need of medical attention, and I'm afraid if we stay here much longer, I may not be able to resuscitate him again."

"I—" the group turned to Souji, desperately reaching for something. They could barely hear him talking, it was hardly even a whisper, he was so quiet. "In…Inha…haler…"

Yosuke stared confusedly. Souji didn't have asthma. He'd never seen his friend use an inhaler before! But then, one of the news announcements flooded his mind. "—_The hospital staff mention that the young man has been prone to asthma and panic attacks as of late, so the sooner he's tracked down, the better. If you have any idea on his whereabouts, please—_" Damn it! Were there any pockets in hospital gowns? No, of course not!

"What's an 'inhaler'?"

"Not now, Teddie!" Yosuke hissed, staring helplessly at Souji as he looked for any place his friend might have hid his inhaler. He wasn't wearing socks, the gown had no pockets, the only place Yosuke was able to see that Souji could hide anything… "Check his sling."

"Huh?"

"Check his sling!"

The detective stared at him oddly for a second, before quickly, and of course carefully, unhooking Souji's sling, her eyes brightening as she found the inhaler. She helped Souji sit up as he shakily grabbed the inhaler from her hand, before using the device. He gave a short smile, before passing out.

"S-Sensei!" Yosuke looked at Teddie, who was crying with panic.

"It's all right, he's just fatigued. But now, we need to get out of here. Immediately. Do we have any Goho-M's?" Naoto looked around the group, fixing Souji's sling again, before giving Kanji a light nod to tell him to carry Souji. It took the tall teen a couple of seconds to understand what she meant, but he was soon awkwardly carrying their unconscious leader in his arms. Yosuke quickly realized that they hadn't brought their item bag with them. They were so concerned about saving their leader, the only things they'd grabbed had been their weapons.

"Teddie!" Yosuke was quickly back on his feet, shaking the Shadow like a rag doll, "Please, tell me you still know Traesto!"

Teddie was absolutely dumbfounded, those blue eyes inheriting total cluelessness. "I…I…S-Sensei said I could forget it s-since we always used Goho-M's!" Yosuke let go of the blonde. He couldn't see a door. And even if they did get out of this room, how would they get out of that room with the nooses?

"Please, Teddie, you're our only hope of getting out of here!" Yosuke pleaded, before giving Souji a light glance. "You want to help him, right?"

"Of course I do! I want to help Sensei in any way I can!"

Yosuke gripped Teddie's shoulders again, staring at him dead in the eye. "Then remember, Teddie. You _have_ to remember. If you don't remember Traesto, then it won't just be Souji, but _all _of us are going to die."

Teddie looked scared, before a fierce determination flickered across his face," I'll try."

"Atta boy!" Yosuke grinned, patting the Shadow's shoulders before letting him go again to let him concentrate.

"I'll see if I can find any exits, just in case…" Rise added, summoning Kanzeon to scan the area.

Yosuke nodded, Chie, Yukiko, and Kanji encouraging the other two. Naoto and the brunette just stared at their fallen friend, who looked peaceful. But Yosuke knew the detective had been serious when they needed to leave immediately. Damn it, how could he have forgotten their item bag? Hell, how could have Rise not reminded him? She was the one who carried it most of the damn time!

Minutes passed, before Rise sighed and recalled her persona, "I can't sense anything. I'm sorry. How are you holding up, Teddie?"

"I…" the Shadow fell to his knees, bawling, "I'm sorry! I-I can't remember!"

Yosuke said nothing. He did nothing. His mind crashed. But he slowly forced a smile, "I-It's okay, you two, you did your best…"

"Y…" the teenagers turned to Kanji, staring incredulously at Souji in his arms. The steel-haired teen had his eyes closed, but he was wincing in pain, "Y…ou…c-can…do…it…" he didn't lift his head. He didn't open his eyes. It seemed just breathing was horrifyingly painful for him.

"S-Save your strength, Sen—"

"T…Ted...Teddie… Bel...ieve…in y…yourself…" Souji's breaths were extremely harsh. Just _listening_ to him breath hurt Yosuke's lungs. His throat would have hurt as well, if it wasn't already.

"B-But, Sensei! I-I—"

"P…Please… I…kn…know you…c—an do…it…" and then their friend fell asleep again, that peaceful look returning to his face.

That look of determination entered the blonde's face again as he stood back on his feet. It didn't take long before the Shadow lost his concentration, thanks to an intruder.

"Even now, you still rely on the kid to help you, to guide you, when you just revived him from death."

It was that voice that judged Yosuke when he was the only conscious one. As everyone else whispered and looked around in confusion, the brunette snarled, fists clenching at his side. Before he could try to yell again, the voice talked once more.

"You never think you can do _anything_ by yourself. You're always asking your leader there, your friend for advice, for help, for _everything_. This is why you failed, Yosuke. You kept asking, begging, _pleading_ for _Souji_ to help you. Even at the beginning of the trial you never thought, 'I can do this. I can save Souji, I just got to believe in myself!' Nothing even _close_ to that! But, hey, wait a minute! Didn't you _come in here_ with that mindset? That no matter what, you would save your friend? So then how come you ended up doubting yourself the instant you saw the brat, huh?"

"Teddie, ignore it! Concentrate on remembering Traesto!" Yosuke yelled, despite his throat. Teddie stared at him wildly before nodding, closing his eyes as he struggled to continue concentrating.

"What would have you acted like if Souji had never come to Inaba? You would have been absolutely fine! Sure, you wouldn't have come to terms with your Shadows, but you wouldn't be relying on him for _every little thing_. You would all be so full of yourselves if he'd never arrived. Hell, he's even helped his uncle. He helped his _uncle_ overcome his problems. When he came here, he only thought he'd be helping his little cousin with her problems, not all of his friend's problems, not his uncle's problems, not the night-nurse's problems, not the daycare mom's problems. I don't know why he went through all that shit. I don't know why he took it all with a smile. But I couldn't do a thing other than listen to his thoughts as he suffered through your shit."

Yosuke blinked. Did Souji talk about this to someone? But…who? And why was this person so great that Souji could tell them, but not Yosuke or any of his other friends? Yosuke could only wonder why he felt absolutely infuriated.

"You know, he still blocked a lot of information about his childhood from you, right? You know he cut the amount of rooms in half? He's still scared. He hates you all, but he's still scared of you hating him. He's honestly such a wreck, the kid'd be better off dead. He tries to be a 'good boy' but only ends up thinking like a psychopath in the end thanks to his…'bad luck'. And then, his family here ends up in the hospital, which somehow…made him _calmer_. But then, ooh, then he was reminded of _that man_ who ended up taking Souji's mind for a thousand loops. '_Is he dangerous? Is he not dangerous? Am I just paranoid? But what if he really is dangerous? But what if I'm just paranoid and overreacting? But what if the man really _is_ evil!_'He kept repeating the same things over and over and over until…_fate_ came to the door. To shove him upstairs and cap a bullet in his shoulder, just barely missing his heart. You know what the funny thing is though? Little Bad Luck boy here never once thought of killing _that man_. He was too confused about him to think about anything else!"

"Who the hell are you talking about? And who the hell are YOU?" Chie screamed, furiously waving her arms as she glared at the ceiling.

The voice laughed.

"I cannot answer your first question, but the second one, you will find out soon enough…."

The voice said no more.

"I…think I've heard that person before… But, I can't exactly remember who they are…" Yukiko muttered, downcast.

Chie was quick to lose her anger, astonishment replacing it, "Hey, now that I think about it… Same here!"

"Enough about that!" Yosuke winced, lightly rubbing his neck. Damn did his throat ever hurt… Shaking it off, he turned to the blonde, who had fresh tears streaming down his cheeks. "Teddie… How're you holding up?"

"I…" the blonde sniffed, before a light smile curled on his lips, "I remember!" Yosuke seemed to stop breathing for a moment, and then he found himself giving the other teen a gigantic hug, which he never thought he'd do in his life. Everyone else was laughing and cheering, and once Yosuke finally let go of Teddie, the Shadow nodded as everyone quickly gathered around.

"Kamui!" the little bear persona quickly appeared, and blasted them to the entrance of the dungeon as fast as he had appeared. Once there, everyone quickly grabbed a hold of their weapons left by the sign, Kanji awkwardly shifting Souji into one of his arms as he carried his shield with the other. The teenagers wasted no time in bolting towards their "headquarters" of the TV world, quickly slashing through any Shadows that got in there way once they reappeared. They didn't take any breaks this time. They didn't stop to ponder over who did this to Souji. They just kept ramming through the Shadows, and Yosuke felt like he could understand how his friend had felt when they were saving Nanako.

He still had more questions about Souji's dungeon. Had he really cut them off from more of his childhood? But then what about the first sign that had asked them if they would listen? The brunette decided to save the questions for later though, when Souji was healthy again, and could tell them all about it himself instead of drawings on a wall. Sure, pictures could tell 1000 words, but Yosuke would prefer for his best friend to paint the pictures _with_ his words, no matter how sad or horrifying the stories were.

He wanted to listen. He wanted to be there for his friend. Yosuke was certain Naoto wouldn't be able to send Souji to jail for his father, after all, there hadn't been a struggle, and the police and courts were all about decisive evidence, right? She couldn't just waltz up and say, "I heard Souji Seta's thoughts painted on walls and I have learned that he murdered his father"! They would send her to the insane asylum! But… If Souji himself admitted it… Yosuke would still be there for him. Through everything. But now, he was going to try…not to rely on Souji so much. Thinking on it now, when the steel-haired teen first arrived, the murders started, Yosuke and Chie practically forcing him to become their leader to help the investigation. But what if he hadn't actually wanted to? What if he'd just wanted to live a normal school life?

…Agh! There wasn't any point in worrying about that now!

Defeating the last Shadow that stood in their way, Yosuke nearly tripped when they got to the base of the TV world. Their exit _out_ of the TV was going haywire! Electricity was flying out of the screens of their exit!

"W-What's going on?"

Yosuke slowly approached the stacked TV's and glared. Just barely, he could see a figure inside the haze of sparks. He knew that was who'd been talking to them in Souji's dungeon; the person that sounded so familiar, but nobody had been able to put a face to the voice.

"Izanagi, get the hell out of there."

The Persona laughed, and slowly climbed out of the TV's. That didn't stop the electricity though. Izanagi stood tall, towering over the group. He said nothing.

"Oh, sure, _now_ keep quiet. And what the hell happened to your, 'Thou art I and I art thou' kind of talk, huh?" Yosuke was honestly surprised, though. _Izanagi_ had been the one saying that? Sure, they only heard the Persona speak the odd times when Souji summoned him, but…

"For you to move on, you have to fight me. Go ahead. Give it your best shot." The Persona laughed and Yosuke suddenly felt like throwing up. He felt as though something exceedingly bad was going to happen, but he had no idea what it was...and he knew it was going to have something to do with Souji, but…

Flicking his Persona's card out of his pocket, Yosuke slashed it with his twin daggers, "SUSANO-O!"

…But Yosuke figured the feeling was because if they didn't get out of there right then and there, Souji was going to leave them forever. Yosuke wouldn't let that happen. Yosuke was going to save him, no matter what it took!


	13. Chapter 13

Delayed Player 13

Yosuke ignored the burn in this throat. He was going to lose his voice by the end of today, he knew that much, but he didn't care.

Izanagi continued to stand over the teenagers, and Yosuke could practically feel the Persona smirking defiantly. Yosuke's fingers twitched on his twin daggers as Susano-o appeared behind him, eyes flickering with hope. Izanagi was weak to wind, and Yosuke definitely had Garu spells at his disposal.

"GARUDYNE!"

Susano-o quickly casted its attack, the blades of wind forming underneath Izanagi before rising up and cutting through the Persona, and Yosuke was satisfied when the Persona fell. The small grin that had formed on Yosuke's face quickly diminished when he heard screams of pain. He shakily turned his head, hands shaking profusely before dropping his daggers to the ground. He could feel himself pale as his heart raced with panic. What had he done? How could he have forgotten something so obvious? Izanagi was Souji's _Persona_, not a Shadow! Any damage dealt to Izanagi, Souji would receive it as well! Damn it damn it damn it damn it damn it damn it_!_

Souji was bleeding. All Yosuke could see seeping through his friend's hospital gown was blood. They had to leave. They had to leave _now_. Yukiko's or Teddie's Dia spells would help a tiny bit, but they wouldn't be enough. Even Diarahan wouldn't be enough. Souji needed medical attention now more than ever. That would be the only thing that could save him.

"Teddie…" Yosuke's voice was raspy, "Can…you make…another exit…?"

The blonde looked at him, "What about Izana—"

"That…doesn't…ma…tter! Hu…" the brunette gagged, coughing into his sleeve before trying to finish his sentence. He couldn't. His voice was shot. Teddie glanced at him curiously, before everyone else yelled at him, to try to open another exit as well.

"B-But I don't know where it'll—"

"Teddie, that doesn't matter right now! If you don't do this, Souji's going to die!" Chie interrupted, before glaring in Yosuke's and Izanagi's direction. The brunette couldn't tell who the stare was directed at.

The Shadow gave a shaky nod, before running to an empty space of the floor they stood on, summoning another stack of TV's for their exit. The blonde watched the screen, trying to see if anyone was on the other side. It's how they could tell when they were safe to go back through the TV into Junes. Teddie motioned for the group to say it was safe, and they immediately ran for the TV's, jumping through the screen, the waves of electricity exceedingly calmer from the other one. When they appeared on the other side, Yosuke immediately realized…that they were in his living room. He was going to yell at Teddie to grab the first aid kit, before remembering his voice was gone, so he ran to where his mom kept the kit in the bathroom cupboard. When he rushed back, he practically shoved the kit into Naoto's hands, because he had absolutely no idea what the hell to do. The look she gave him meant she probably wasn't sure either, but she wandered over to their friend, where Kanji had put him on the couch, and tried to see what she could do anyway. Chie was on her cell, and by the sounds of it, she was talking to a 911 operator.

Yosuke shut his eyes and punched a nearby wall, cursing himself. Why was he so fucking stupid? He should have realized that attacking Izanagi would hurt Souji immediately! Why hadn't he thought about it until after the damage was done? Damn it! He was such a fucking idiot! A stupid fucking idiot! Fuck!

He took a deep breath, furious tears rolling down his face. Would he ever stop crying? Would he ever stop being such an idiot? If those paramedics didn't get here in seconds flat, Yosuke would have caused his friend to die…AGAIN! Fuck fuck fuck fuck! Yosuke punched the wall again. And again. And again and again and again. He would have punched a hole through it if Kanji hadn't dragged him away and talked to him, trying to calm him down. Yosuke wasn't listening though. All he heard were the insults he thought to himself for being such an idiot. Such a stupid stupid idiot. He couldn't believe how much of an absolute idiot he was. Sliding to the ground, Yosuke started punching the floor out of frustration.

Even when his knuckles started bleeding, even when sirens were heard in the background, even when paramedics arrived to help Souji, he didn't stop punching the ground. He only stopped when a paramedic had to force him up and quickly wrapped his hands before rushing out to help Souji again. The teens were soon questioned by a couple of cops and detectives, including Adachi, who looked absolutely pale and panicked, yet the tiniest bit relieved. Naoto was the one to bullshit an answer as to how and where they found Souji, but whatever it was, Yosuke wasn't paying attention. All he could do was stare out the door where the ambulance had sped off once Souji was located inside. When police came to question him, he didn't respond. He didn't want to respond. He wanted to stay by Souji's side and apologize. He didn't care that his voice was gone; he'd force himself to talk, even if it permanently made it so he couldn't talk at all afterwards.

"Yosuke," Adachi had approached him, "can I talk to you for a second?"

The brunette stared blankly at the detective, who gave him a patient smile.

"I heard about you losing your voice. I have an extra notepad you can write on. Please, come this way." Yosuke slowly followed the older man outside, shakily accepting the notepad that was handed to him. Adachi stared with sympathy as the teenager awkwardly gripped onto the pencil with his bandaged hands. That look of sympathy suddenly turned serious, and Yosuke swore he saw a daunting smirk on the older man's face just for a second. But he was probably just imagining things. His vision was still blurry from his tears, after all.

"So, how did you and your friends manage to find Souji?"

The brunette blinked, before quickly scribbling down an answer. "_Didn't Naoto tell you?_"

"Yes, she did, but you were zoned out. I just want to hear what you have to say." Yosuke's eyes widened. He had absolutely no idea what Naoto had told the other detectives, and if he wasn't even close, Adachi would get suspicious. But he had to say something, otherwise Adachi would still get suspicious. Damn it, what could he do? It's like he was being tested again!

"What's the matter?" Yosuke swore he saw that smirk again.

Yosuke felt himself pale, before he quickly wrote another answer down. It was the only thing he could think of that he could say, so he was damn well going to say it. "_I'm sorry. I can't remember. Once we found him, I panicked, and everything after that was a blur._"

When he showed Adachi the notepad, the older man raised a questioning eyebrow, before giving a light nod. "I see." Despite the calm smile on his face, it seemed Adachi didn't believe him. The detective took back his notepad and pencil and let Yosuke go back inside, saying he was going to go to the hospital to tell Dojima the news about Souji. Yosuke honestly didn't really care what Adachi had to do or say, he just wanted Souji to be fine. He just wanted Souji to be okay. He just wanted Souji alive. When the rest of the cops left, the teenagers were awkwardly bunched around as Yukiko and Rise tried to rid of the blood that had stained Yosuke's couch. The brunette honestly didn't give a damn about the ruined furniture, and he knew his parents wouldn't give a damn either once he'd explained what had happened, so he could only glare at the girls as they fussed over the sofa. What about Souji? Why hadn't they bothered cleaning his wounds to help? They just stood there and cried!

But then again, it's not like he'd been any help either… He just made everything worse… He was always making shit worse… Why did he fail so much?

"I'm sorry, Yosuke, I don't think we can get rid of the blood…" Yukiko muttered apologetically, at which Yosuke just glared harsher in reply. The raven-haired girl didn't seem to notice as she grabbed Rise's cloth and placed them in the sink in the kitchen, the idol slowly getting to her feet.

"Should we…go to the hospital?" Kanji questioned, unease on his face. It seemed he was trying to relieve the tension in the room. "W…We can be there when Senpai's better…"

"Yeah… That sounds like a plan." Chie replied, trying her best to smile. "C'mon, guys!"

Yosuke continued to glare as they all filed out of his house, before he grabbed his house keys from his pocket and followed them, locking the door. Before the police arrived, Teddie had grabbed everyone's weapons and stashed them in Yosuke's closet, and the brunette hoped his parents didn't get home early and randomly snoop in there. He guessed they wouldn't care, either way, seeing as how they let him bring a sword and daggers out in the open to Junes that one time.

As the teens walked down the road to get to the hospital, Yosuke's scowl never left his face. He trailed behind the group and couldn't stop staring holes into the backs of their heads. They could have stopped him. They could have stopped him from being an idiot and hurting their friend more. They probably realized that attacking Izanagi would hurt Souji before he did, so why did they let him cast Garudyne? Why did they let him worsen their friend's condition? Why why _why_? They could have done something! They could have stopped him! They could have done whatever it was to either stop Yosuke or help Souji! Why was everything always made out to be his fault? Why was everything always by his hand? Why him?

"Senpai, please don't blame yourself." Yosuke continued to glower as Naoto stepped into pace beside him, tipping her hat to lightly block her eyes. "I apologize in not addressing my fears immediately. I was caught off guard and I hadn't expected you to react so quickly…"

Yosuke stalked off ahead. Excuses. All she was saying was excuses. She'd acted immediately in situations when she was caught off guard before. All it was was a bunch of lame excuses. How he wished time would just skip forward a couple of weeks so everything would just go back to bloody normal. He hated this so much. So very much.

The rest of the walk to the hospital wasn't much greater, Yosuke walking faster when someone tried to talk to him. Anything they would say would be excuses or bullshit. He didn't want to listen to either. Even when Chie started yelling at him, he ignored it and moved on. Souji. All he cared about now was Souji. Was he going to be okay? Was he going to live? Was he going to be pushed into a coma? Was he going to get amnesia? _Was he going to be all right_? Yosuke hoped and prayed for his friend's wellbeing. He didn't know what he would do if Souji ended up a vegetable, or worse, thanks to him. And this damn fog probably wouldn't be helping Souji's case either, if it really was poisonous as the nut-jobs around town said. Damn it…

It took around 40 minutes for them to get to the hospital, and once they were indoors, Yosuke stared blankly at the chaos in the lobby, the others following suite.

"The hell's going on?" Kanji asked, a nearby nurse turning to look at the group. The woman visibly paled at their presence.

"Please tell me you're not reporters!"

The teenagers stared at each other awkwardly, before slowly shaking their heads. The woman breathed a sigh of relief, before turning wide-eyed again. "Are… Are you patients?"

The group slowly shook their heads again. The woman breathed another sigh of relief. "So you're visitors? Who were you planning on seeing?"

"Uh… Souji Seta…?" Chie replied, hesitantly looking around. The nurse turned pale again.

"I-I see… Well right now he's still in surgery… And we're busy trying to rid of all the reporters swarming the halls asking questions." The nurse sighed, "Perhaps you should come back later, when things calm down?"

Yosuke glared and defiantly shook his head, before running off. He'd personally kick the asses of the reporters and made sure they left. He was going to stay here, until he knew Souji was safe. He wasn't leaving his friend's side again. He wasn't going to let Souji down again. He was going to help him this time. In the TV, he still screwed up. Any time before that, he'd screwed up absolutely. He wasn't going to screw up anymore. Well, he hoped he wouldn't. He would try his best to make sure he wouldn't.

Turning a corner, Yosuke gasped when he ran into someone, and fell straight on his back. He quickly looked up at the person he ran into, finding a concerned Adachi staring down at him. The detective shakily held out a hand, helping the teenager stand up.

"Hey, you okay?" the older man asked as Yosuke dusted himself off. The brunette nodded, peering behind Adachi, watching as detectives and cops fended off prying eyes, cameras, and notepads trying to ram into the doors the cops were defending. Nurses and doctors were also there, trying to help.

Adachi gave a short, sad chuckle, before sighing, "Souji's been done with his surgery for awhile, but the doctors don't want to leave thanks to the reporters. They're concerned about any casualties that might happen with so much people crowding around. And it doesn't seem like they'll be letting up any time soon… This is the first major story they've had in months; I guess they don't want to miss a beat."

Yosuke glared again, and slowly walked past Adachi, who questioned him confusedly. The brunette honestly didn't give a rats ass that there were cops around, and the reporter that was closest to him, he gave the sucker a powerful right-hook to the jaw. The man was knocked unconscious, and everyone else could only stare at Yosuke in shock. The rest of the paparazzi immediately fled down the halls while the police and hospital staff continued to stare at the brunette, before a couple of nurses made sure the unconscious reporter wasn't hurt too badly.

The police glanced at Yosuke wearily for a couple of moments, before sighing, "We'll let you off with a warning."

Yosuke nodded as Adachi slowly approached the brunette and moved him away from the doors as doctors quietly peered out of it, quickly strolling Souji out of the room on a stretcher. Yosuke's breath hitched in his throat at the sight of his friend. Sure, he wasn't dead and turning blue like before, but he still looked absolutely dreadful. Bruises around his neck and wrists, bandages wrapped all over, and he still looked so god damn _pale_. Yosuke clenched his fists at his side, gritting his teeth in frustration at himself. He was the cause of those bandages…

"Don't worry, we're going to catch who did this to him, all right? The only one who's got something to worry about is the bastard that did this!" Adachi smiled, patting the teen's shoulder. "But you should probably go home and visit tomorrow. I don't think they'll let visitors in right now, other than police that'll ask Souji questions once he wakes up. Besides, you look absolutely exhausted, and you should probably give your voice a rest. Nothing bad will happen to Souji again, I promise! We'll have cops stationed inside his room, too, so nobody will be able to pull that kidnapping stunt again!"

Yosuke did nothing as the young detective turned him around, "Now, go on, go home, get some rest, come back tomorrow and visit Souji when he has more strength."

Then Adachi gave the brunette a light push forward, and Yosuke couldn't help but walk back down the hall he'd sprinted through only minutes ago.

"Oh, there he is!" He heard Chie call as the rest of the group ran up to him. Yosuke ignored them, walking past his friends and out of the hospital. When he finally arrived back home, he didn't even bother going to his room; he laid down on the couch, not giving a shit about the blood, and fell asleep nearly immediately.

He had no dreams.


	14. Chapter 14

Delayed Player 14

When Yosuke woke up, a blanket now covered his body and a pillow sat under his head. The brunette figured his mom had done the task; he didn't expect Teddie would do something like that, and his dad wouldn't be half-assed to do so. Yosuke slowly sat up, painfully rotating his neck until the successful '_crack_' made it feel back to normal. Yawning, he stepped off the couch and rubbed his eyes, looking blankly out the window. It was either really late, or it was early morning. The birds he suddenly heard chirping made him suspect it was morning.

Practically crawling at a snail's pace towards the kitchen, Yosuke turned on the sink, splashing his face with cold water multiple times until he felt completely awake. He wasn't hungry. He usually was when he woke up, whether it was just a power nap or a full eight hours of sleep, he was always hungry once his eyes opened up. But, today he wasn't. Was it because of his concern for his friend? Mentally shrugging to himself, the teenager figured that to be the reason because he didn't feel like coming up with a different explanation. Checking the clock, Yosuke gave a sly smirk. It was 4:27 AM. And right now, Yosuke didn't give a damn about the time. Searching for a piece of paper and a pencil, Yosuke hastily wrote down a note for his parents, taped it on the fridge, put on his shoes, and bolted out the door.

Adachi told him to come back tomorrow, and, well, it was tomorrow. Early tomorrow, but still tomorrow, right?

Sprinting down the road, Yosuke was glad rush hour hadn't started yet, as he quickly ran across cross-walks without any trouble. He wasn't sure how long it took him to run to the hospital, but he knew he never stopped for a break once, and once he did, he was absolutely out of breath. Once he was inside a couple nurses questioned him, Yosuke failing miserably trying to explain with his missing voice. One of them ran to get him a glass of water, which he happily downed in seconds. The women stared at him expectantly, before he had to practically play charades to say he lost his voice. It took them a couple of minutes, but they finally figured it out and found a notepad for him to write on.

He only wrote down two words, and he wasn't going to write down any more. They'd know what he meant. He was the most famous person in the hospital right now, after all. The women stared at his written words, before asking one of the questions he was asked yesterday.

"Are you a reporter?"

And Yosuke could only glare and shake his head. Why the hell would a reporter with no voice go to interview somebody? Why the hell would a reporter with no voice or notepad of his own go to interview somebody? How stupid could these people get?

"Are you a family member or a friend?"

Yosuke made a peace sign, and he would damn well strangle someone if they didn't realize he meant the second thing they listed.

"Excuse us for a second." The women backed away, back to their desk where they flipped through folders as they whispered what Yosuke could only imagine were concerned and cautious questions to each other. Sitting down in a nearby chair, the teen could only watch with disinterest as the nurses quietly squalled with one another. Maybe they wouldn't let him visit because it was so early in the morning. Maybe he should have slept in. But, then again, he wasn't tired anymore, even after that continuous run. All he wanted to do was see Souji. All he wanted to do was see his friend, and write thousands of apologies on one tiny sheet of notebook paper, before filling the whole damn thing with millions upon millions of nothing but sorry sorry sorry _sorry_.

And he hoped he would see his friend's patient smile once more. He missed that smile. But now, he was going to try to see it by means that didn't involve forcing all his stress and problems on Souji. He wanted to see it when they were goofing off, or playing video games, or just having fun. He didn't want to see it anymore if it related to _his_ problems. He wasn't going to run straight to Souji for help anymore. He'd talk to his parents, and maybe the others for help. He wouldn't burden Souji with anything like that again.

The women continued to quietly bicker at the desk, and Yosuke wished he could ask what the hell they were talking about. He didn't understand what there was to talk about. Either he could visit Souji or he couldn't, right? A couple minutes passed as the nurses continued to talk, and Yosuke rolled his eyes, before getting back up and heading down the path he ran yesterday. The nurses called after him, but Yosuke ignored them and continued down the halls. He knew when he'd arrive at Souji's room; there'd be police outside the doors, and most probably paparazzi. If there was another crowd of reporters like yesterday, Yosuke wouldn't mind giving someone another fist to their face. Wandering down the halls, Yosuke glanced around curiously, wondering if Souji was indeed awake, and how he felt about being in a hospital. He was sure his friend hated it, and Yosuke didn't blame him, after learning what he went through. Yosuke faltered once he rounded another corner and saw Adachi sleeping on one of the hospital benches, arm resting over his eyes. Yosuke could only question how late the detective had stayed up.

The brunette looked around. There was nobody else close by. Yosuke edged closer to the sleeping man, wondering if he should wake Adachi up or not. The teen decided Adachi would probably prefer going home and resting on his bed then that uncomfortable looking bench, so he shakily reached out to Adachi, ready to shake the older man awake. He almost fell from shock by the sudden movement from the detective, Adachi holding onto Yosuke's wrist like a vulture. Yosuke winced. He didn't realize that Adachi could have such a fierce grip! If he'd been squeezing his wrist any tighter, Yosuke was certain Adachi would break his hand.

The detective's other arm that remained over his eyes lightly fell down his face, Adachi peering at the teen. Yosuke couldn't decipher the emotion in Adachi's eyes before they turned into panic. The older man quickly let go of Yosuke's hand and sat up, staring wildly at the teen who lightly rubbed his wrist.

"Oh, jeeze, kid, I'm so sorry! I didn't—Oh, man! Are you okay?" Adachi fussed, trying to examine the teenager.

Yosuke gave a hesitant smile, before nodding, placing his hand back at his side. He bet it'd be absolutely bruised in a matter of minutes. Adachi looked absolutely guilty, "A-Are you sure? I mean, we are in a hospital, we can get it checked out to make sure I didn't break anything…"

Yosuke gave another smile. If he needed to, he'd just use the bandages on his hands and wrap it around his wrist instead. But _damn_! He couldn't believe how much power Adachi had! He never would have guessed!

Adachi sighed, "All right… But jeeze, I'm sorry! I didn't… When I sleep, my senses are heightened so…" the detective sighed again, before he rubbed his eyes and slid his sleeve up, revealing a watch a bit high up his arm. Adachi seemed to have to double take when he checked the time. "…I-It's only twelve after five!" he looked at the teen incredulously before looking back at his watch.

"You sure didn't waste any time getting back here, huh?" Adachi laughed, dragging his sleeve back down. Just at the last moment, Yosuke caught something on the detective's wrist before it was covered by his cuffs. It looked like…someone or something had scratched him? It also looked like the older man had tried covering it up with something, but whatever it was, a little bit had been wiped off when Adachi rolled up his sleeve.

"…What's wrong?" Yosuke blinked, before looking up at Adachi's face, who seemed mildly concerned. Something looked…off though. The brunette wished he had Naoto's or Souji's keen eye for spotting stuff, because it was bugging him that he couldn't decipher what was…off.

Yosuke was absolutely curious about the man's injuries though, so he whipped out the notebook he'd stuffed in his pocket, and wrote a quick question. "_What happened to your wrist?_"

Adachi blinked, before lightly chuckling, "So, you saw that, huh? My brother came to visit a couple of days ago, and we got into a fight. He didn't stand a chance against his big brother though; that's the only thing he managed to do to me!" the man grinned from ear-to-ear, and Yosuke could only make a small smile in response. Something still seemed off, but he still had no idea what it was, and it still bugged him. But, he wouldn't be able to figure it out, he knew that.

"So, I'm guessing you wanted to see Souji, right?" the detective asked, his smile turning shorter with sympathy. "Well… He didn't wake up last night… So if he does wake up and you're in there, I'm afraid you'd probably get the boot because everyone's eager to question him. Hopefully you, or one of us, won't have to deck another reporter in the face though!" Adachi chuckled again, Yosuke giving another smile. Why did it feel so…weird being alone with this man all of a sudden? Yosuke found himself wishing he'd at least dragged Teddie along, just to make it seem less awkward and…frightening? Yosuke wasn't sure what he was feeling around the cop right now, but it definitely made him amazingly uneasy. Was he just tired, making him feel this way? But… He didn't feel tired at all… Maybe it was just all the stress and everything else from the last day's events wearing him down and making him imagine weird things.

"Well… Enough standing around here, I'll take you to Souji's room, okay?" Yosuke nodded and slowly followed the older man's lead, who said no more as they headed down the hall. The brunette couldn't help but continue to curiously glance at Adachi, trying to see if he could find out why it was suddenly so awkward to be by this guy. All he could see were the bags under Adachi's eyes, but other than that, it was the same, goofy Adachi.

The duo rounded a couple of corners before they arrived at a room, two police standing outside the door. The officers gave a light nod towards Adachi before one stared at Yosuke.

"It's okay, he's with me, and he's a friend of Souji's." Adachi said before they could ask questions. The officers nodded again before one of them opened the door, allowing Yosuke and Adachi inside. Yosuke blinked at the sight, swallowing the lump that entered his throat. Souji still looked as pale as he did yesterday, and there weren't all that many wires attached to him, but it sure as hell looked like there were millions from Yosuke's vision suddenly blurring. His knees were shaking, too. It took only a matter of seconds before he felt himself falling and then stopped from hitting the floor thanks to Adachi quickly grabbing him. Whatever worried calls Adachi made, the brunette heard nothing. It felt like he was floating to the chair Adachi was helping him get to. He didn't know what had happened. He didn't know why he suddenly felt like he was going to pass out, but once Adachi propped him in the chair, everything went back to normal.

Yosuke could only blink as the doctor, that he could only assume had been checking Souji's vitals or something before they entered, hurriedly walked over to examine him. The brunette just wanted to push the man away. Right now, he didn't give a damn about himself; it was probably just a dizzy spell from all the shit that'd been going down. Right now, he just wanted to watch over his friend.

The doctor asked him a few questions, which Yosuke had no choice but to answer. He answered angrily, but answered nonetheless. The questions seemed absolutely pointless, and Yosuke's hands kept twitching on his pencil. He wanted to punch the doctor so freaking badly, or stab the man's eye out with the writing utensil. Either way, he just wanted the man out of his face so he could watch over Souji. The man gave Yosuke a couple of hesitant looks before leaving him alone, telling Adachi something Yosuke didn't give a damn about as he moved to a chair closer to Souji.

The brunette could feel tears welling up in his eyes again, but he forced them away. He wasn't going to cry anymore. He didn't want to cry anymore. He had to stay strong… But up close, Souji looked so much paler. He was as white as the bed-sheets, or maybe even whiter… The only thing standing out was his utterly bruised neck. Yosuke glared. He could see the marking from the rope that strangled him, but there was something else that was a cause of some of the bruising as well… Had the assailant tried strangling Souji too, before throwing him in the TV? Yosuke sighed and lightly rubbed his eyes. He wouldn't be able to figure it out without any help, so why did he keep trying to solve everything? He'd only end up making it all worse.

He wondered if Naoto was up by now… He could probably talk to her to figure this out, since everyone else was probably on the same deduction level as he was. But then again, he _did _have a detective on the case who loved to run his mouth standing just a couple feet away. But then again…again, there were two police officers on guard in the room as well, and they surely wouldn't let Adachi spill anything about the case to a teenager.

Yosuke lightly shook his head. He shouldn't be worrying about this right now, right? He'd only worry about it once him and everyone else was at their table in Junes, talking all the facts over.

Right now, he was just going to sit there, watching over his friend until he woke up. Even if it took days, he'd still stay by his friend's side.

Shakily, Yosuke found himself lifting his hand, then found himself gently placing it over Souji's. He was thankful the IV was in Souji's arm instead of his hand; he didn't want to accidently screw things up even worse. The brunette held back a sob and lowered his head, desperately fighting against his tears. Souji felt so cold… It's like he was ice… How he wished he could say he was sorry over and over and over with his voice, instead of writing it on paper. Sure, he hadn't even started that… But… Whatever! He just wanted his friend to wake up… And he wanted to apologize… For every selfish thing he did when Souji had arrived, and for fucking everything up in the TV when he tried to save him. He couldn't believe himself for going in with such a strong mindset, then indeed crumbling at the first sight of Souji, whether it'd been him getting squashed by his Shadow, or strapped to a chair with a noose ready to hang him.

Speaking of the Shadow incident…he could only wonder what the rest of Souji's opinions on him were… He really wanted to know. Whatever they were, he'd listen to everything Souji had to say. Even though Izanagi had said Souji hated them all, that didn't mean he didn't care for them either… Because if he didn't care, why would he have stopped listing why the investigation team pissed him off so much? Why did he say he believed in Teddie to get them out of the dungeon? He cared for them… He must care… It was still natural for friends to hate something about their other friends, right? Yosuke knew there were plenty of things he absolutely hated about Chie, and she most likely felt the same about him, but they were still friends.

Yosuke sighed, continuing to hold his tears back as he lifted his head back up, only to find his heart stop beating for a couple moments. Souji was staring at him. His eyes were dull and lifeless, but he was still looking straight at him. Yosuke couldn't move. All he could do was stare right back at him.

Souji smirked, before his gaze turned to their hands, "Y… You…d-umbass…" it still looked like it was painful to talk for him, "Th… That's…f-for girls…" Yosuke blushed and quickly retracted his hand, glaring lightly at his friend, but then he couldn't help but smile. That's what he said when Souji hugged him at the river, trying to comfort him after he broke down.

"Souji!" Adachi was quick to appear beside Yosuke, absolutely ecstatic, "It's good to see you're awake! How're you feeling? Should I go call the doctor? He just left."

"I… I'm fine… A-Adachi-s...an…" It looked like Souji was straining himself not to wince from the pain, and the guilt Yosuke felt just deepened.

Then he suddenly realized how heavy and troubled the atmosphere in the room seemed to be. There wasn't any way he was imagining it this time.

The brunette took quick glances from Souji to Adachi to the other two cops who were watching the scene quietly, traces of small smiles on their lips. He didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. _Was_ it just his imagination?

"If you say you're okay, we're going to have to ask you some questions, all right?" Adachi gave a light smile, and Souji gave a light nod in return. "And if it starts to hurt too much to talk, we can just get you to write down your answers in one of our notepads, okay?"

"I'm…f…fine…"

"Adachi," the brunette and detective turned to one of the cops that inched closer to the bed, "We can't have civilian—"

"Let…him s-tay…" Souji glared at the cop, who seemed absolutely shocked.

"B—"

"Let him stay!" Yosuke was taken aback at Souji's tone. At that moment, it seemed like Souji wasn't in any pain whatsoever. The officer raised his hands defensively, before slowly backing away. Yosuke knew he wasn't going to be doing the questioning now.

Adachi blinked, before taking out his notepad, and started the interview. Yosuke carefully watched Souji as he talked, so maybe he could tell why that lingering feeling of a heavy atmosphere never left. Yosuke assumed that Souji would have agreed with the cops and made the brunette wait outside until the interview was done, so why had he done that? Why had he made the cops allow Yosuke to stay? Was he scared? Did Souji hate officers too? Was one of his caretakers in his childhood a cop that treated him horrible or something? Or was it just the fact he was in a hospital? Yosuke mentally sighed. He would ask the questions he wanted to ask later, when Souji was out of the hospital, and when he actually was able to speak.

When Adachi was done questioning Souji, Yosuke watched as his friend nearly immediately closed his eyes once he was done talking and was soon fast asleep. The answers Souji gave Adachi had been simple. The assailant was the same person, he still couldn't remember the persona's face, and he didn't remember a thing until he woke up in here. Yosuke knew the last part was a lie, but if he hadn't already knew, he would have been convinced that it was the truth.

"Hey, Yosuke, are you hungry?" the brunette turned to Adachi, who was smiling calmly. "I think Souji's gonna be sleeping for another long while, the doctor said that would be normal for a couple of days, and…well, I'm personally starving! And I know you got up preeetttyy early, so I'm assuming you haven't eaten yet."

Yosuke blinked, before giving a light nod. Now, probably thanks to Adachi mentioning it, he was starving as well. He slowly stood up and the detective's smile grew. "So, you're coming along then? Well, today I'll pay for your meal too, my treat! …And apology for the wrist thing."

Yosuke nodded again, trailing behind Adachi as they left the room. Before the door closed behind them, Yosuke took a glance back at his sleeping friend and smiled. He was going to be okay, and Yosuke couldn't be happier.

But…why was that heavy, uneasy tension still there?


	15. Chapter 15

Delayed Player 15

Yosuke absentmindedly bit into the sandwich he'd let Adachi order him. He watched as the detective gulped down his large coffee, as well as practically devour the meal before him. He wanted to ask what was exactly so appetizing about hospital food…okay, well it wasn't _that_ bad of food, but the older man was acting like it was an all-you-can-eat buffet or something…

Adachi seemed to notice Yosuke's staring, because he promptly stopped eating, put his food down (he got a lot of sandwiches…) and scratched the back of his head. "Haha…ha… S-Sorry… On my pay, all I can really manage to get is instant stuff…"

Yosuke gave a dim nod, before resuming to eat his sandwich. And here he thought cops and detectives and the like got big paycheques.

The duo finished their breakfast, Adachi throwing out their garbage before sitting back down. The older man sighed, before gracing an awkward smile on his lips. "S-So… How's school going for you?"

Yosuke shrugged. And it seemed that was the answer Adachi was expecting, because he nodded knowingly. Yosuke started drumming his fingers on the notepad, before flicking the book open to a fresh page. He tapped the pencil against his chin, before slowly writing down a question for the detective. "_Do you have any leads whatsoever?_"

Adachi stared blankly at the written question and Yosuke noted that it looked like the older man was chewing the inside of his lip. It took a couple of minutes before the detective took a deep breath, before sighing, "No, unfortunately, we don't… It would help if Souji could remember the face of who did this to him, but…" the detective took another breath and looked at the teen through half-lidded eyes. "By the way, are you sure you don't remember what happened when you found Souji? I…found it odd…that there weren't any blood droplets trailing from the door to your couch… We even investigated where Naoto had said you found him, but we couldn't find a piece of evidence that Souji had even _been_ there."

Yosuke gulped. Now he wished he'd been listening to Naoto's story.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you and your friends are lying, but…" Adachi sighed, "It's my job to notice these things… And, well… You understand where I'm getting at, right?"

Yosuke didn't move. He felt like his whole body was frozen. It was obvious Adachi suspected something was off, but Yosuke wasn't sure how to respond. What if he just made the situation worse? He probably would make it worse. He gulped again, a bead of sweat rolling down his face.

Adachi continued to give the teen a questioning look; before it was replaced with a goofy smile, "Well…I guess all of you were a little shaken up, so maybe Naoto just got her facts mixed up. I mean, every single one of you looked as pale as Souji when we arrived! I'll ask your friends again later."

The brunette nodded, holding back a sigh of relief. He'd have to warn everyone about Adachi before the detective got to them.

"Well…shall we go see Souji again? He might be up by now." The teen nodded again, following Adachi back to the room. Yosuke realized that uneasy tension had never left, even when they'd just been eating. He could only wonder why it was there and why it wasn't leaving.

As the duo silently headed back towards Souji's room, Yosuke could only cock an eyebrow at the yelling that seemed to grow louder… Until he realized that was Souji screaming.

He felt his heart sink. Souji was saying something, but Yosuke had no idea what it was he was saying. The walls were muffling Souji's words.

As they got closer to the room, the cops outside the door immediately stared at Yosuke, "We're afraid you can't go in. Souji's had a mental breakdown." And they said no more. They didn't need to say anymore, Yosuke knew once he heard the screaming that it meant he wasn't going to be entering the room again anytime soon.

"Hey…wait a minute… Isn't it a school day anyway?" Adachi turned to Yosuke, who blinked. Was it a school day? He hadn't been paying attention to the days once he saw Souji in the TV. He could have sworn it was a Sunday…?

Yosuke absentmindedly reached for his cell and flipped it open. It _was_ a Sunday. He lightly tapped the detective's arm and pointed to the screen, Adachi's mouth forming an 'o'. Yosuke gave a curt nod before shoving the phone in his pocket, and he slowly rocked back and forth on his feet. What could he do for the rest of the day? He wanted to see Souji again, but he knew that was definitely out of the option now… And it was still pretty early in the morning. He wondered if Naoto was up at this time… Knowing the Detective Prince, she probably was.

The brunette stared up at Adachi as the older man let out a long, loud yawn, sleepy tears forming in the corner of his eyes. "Well…" he mumbled, blinking profusely, "I think…I'm gonna head on home and get a little shut-eye for a couple of hours… S'alright with you guys, right?" he turned to the officers who were standing guard. They gave him a curious stare before hesitantly nodding in agreement.

"Alright!" Adachi gave a short laugh, before patting Yosuke on the shoulder, "Hey, you need a ride back home? I can take you there on my way."

Yosuke gave a quiet shake of his head, Adachi slowly starting to head down the hall, "If you say so…" the detective quickly spun around, walking backwards as he locked his hands behind his head, "You _sure_? Last chance if you want a ride!"

The teen gave a light smile, before shaking his head again. Adachi was quick to leave with a, "Okay, but don't say I didn't ask!" as he disappeared down the hall.

The smile on Yosuke's face quickly faded as he slowly turned to look at the walls to Souji's room. He wondered what he would see, what his friend would look like, what his friend would be doing, along with all that screaming. The brunette tried to swallow the knot that appeared in his throat, only for it to stay. He realized the uneasy tension from earlier was gone, which would have lifted his spirits the tiniest smidge if his friend's cries hadn't suddenly become audible.

The knot in Yosuke's throat grew tighter when he listened in to his friend's horrified screams. He should have just ran down the hall. Or, he wished he could be there to comfort his friend and say it was okay, that everything was going to be fine, that nothing was going to hurt him.

"MOM! I…I W…WANT MY MOM!" Souji's words were crystal clear now, other than the sobbing that got in his way of breathing. And Yosuke could only remember Souji's asthma. The brunette admittedly wasn't sure how it worked, but if Souji kept screaming and yelling and crying like this, wouldn't that make it worse? Wouldn't he stop breathing? But what if he continued to thrash around, even after he was out of breath? Could he even do that…?

"NO! ST…STAY AWAY! STAY AWAY! WHERE'S MY MOM? I WANT MY MOM!" Yosuke curiously glanced at the police officers, who were trying to look disinterested, but were failing at the worried expressions that crept along their features. Yosuke soon found himself sliding down against a wall. All feeling in his legs suddenly dissipated and he was barely able to keep himself standing. It wasn't because of the hospital food, or any lack of sleep, it was…because his friend was in there, distraught and filled with absolute terror, and there was nothing Yosuke could do. It felt like the trial when he had to help Souji not get hanged… Not that he succeeded.

"NO! NO! NOO! DON'T…DON'T TOUCH…M-ME! _NO_! YOU'RE…YOU'RE GONNA GET ME HIGH AGAIN! I…I DON'T WANT…I DON'T WANT THAT…! I DON'T… I DON'T… I… I…" the cries of his friend slowly quieted, but Yosuke grimaced. He knew it wasn't drugs calming Souji down, Souji wasn't calming down at all, and Yosuke knew that. If anything, the fact that he'd stopped screaming probably meant his reactions were only going to get worse. He'd probably turn into that lifeless kid he saw in the painting, with his cousin hanging limply in a noose… And he'd probably… Maybe… He'd try to kill them. Or injure them well enough so they'd leave in a panic. Yosuke honestly had no idea, but he still feared the worst, the knot in his throat continuing to grow with the new wave of uneasiness.

"Hey, kid," Yosuke blearily looked up at the two officers, "You should probably be heading home now. The doctor said not to let anybody in for the rest of the day. There's no more reason for you to stay here."

Yosuke grit his teeth, but nodded anyway. There _was_ reason for him to stay there. That was his friend, damn it! He didn't care how long it took, he'd wait! But there was no point in arguing, they'd kick him out eventually, so he got back on his feet and walked down the hall Adachi had wandered through only minutes ago. Maybe he should have taken that ride back…

When he got closer to the entrance, Yosuke stuffed his hands in his pockets, pushing the notepad and pencil further in. The nurses that were there when he arrived had left, their shift was probably long over by now, but he still didn't want the rest of the staff out here to take the pad away. It was his now, he wasn't finding another one. Screw that.

As he left the doors and out into the brisk air, brought on by the fog and cold winter, he couldn't help but shiver. He didn't remember it being this cold before, but then again, this morning he'd ran all the way here. All the other times, he guessed he'd been too distracted to notice. He jumped the small amount of steps in his way and continued his journey home, practically dragging himself there.

The only thing that filled his mind during his walk had been Souji's screams echoing back and forth, growing louder and louder the more he thought about it. He tried to shake them away, only for them to come back louder and more terrified. He took a sharp breath and shut his eyes tightly, leaning against a light post. His body practically recoiled at the touch, and he had to lean against it again. He didn't realize the post would be _that_ cold. He took another breath of cold air, trying to calm his pounding head. Trying to calm his friend's screaming that just wouldn't stop.

When someone tapped his shoulder, he painfully opened his eyes, looking over to see…Teddie. Yosuke could barely see his white car behind the blonde across the street.

"Your mom was worried." Teddie stated simply, Yosuke giving a light nod in response. Yosuke was surprised that would be all it took for the screaming to stop. "…How was Sensei?"

…But then Souji's screams were back in his head just as fast, practically roaring at the question. The brunette was only able to bite his lip as an answer, and as miracles would someday happen, Teddie seemed to clue in immediately and said no more. Instead, he lightly grabbed Yosuke's hand and led the teen to the other side of the road to the car, both of them silently climbing inside.

The streets were still as lifeless as they'd been when he woke up. Not many people were doing their jobs anymore, due to the hysteria that came with the fog.

"Oh, are you all right? Ooh, you look absolutely exhausted! You did eat, right?" his mother fussed, and Yosuke could only give a light roll of his eyes before nodding to say he was okay. "Oh, that's right; you lost your voice, didn't you?"

He nodded again.

"Oh, my poor baby! Oh, well, I know things that work wonders to bring a voice back!" Yosuke could only roll his eyes again at his mother's eagerness, before it slowly fell. "You went to visit your friend, right? The one that got robbed and then kidnapped, right? The one who you and your other friends found and brought home to try to treat his wounds before the ambulance came, right?"

Yosuke nodded once more. His mother always had a speech problem. If she wasn't saying "Oh" at the start of every sentence, she was saying "right?" at the end of every other one.

"Oh, I still feel so sorry for the poor dear. You did get in to see him, right? Oh, is he recovering okay?" Yosuke chewed on his inner cheek, before absent-mindedly looking down at his feet.

A long-silence, Yosuke estimated around five minutes, filled the car before his mother finally clued in.

"Oh!" she perked up, before immediately crashing, then perked up again, "Oh, don't worry, Hun, he'll be in tip-top shape soon and you'll be having fun like before!"

Yosuke nodded for the last time, his mother turning back to start the car, and they were soon heading home. He blankly looked out the window, despite knowing he'd see nothing but fog and the blurry outlines of buildings. He suddenly realized Souji's screaming in his head had stopped again. They didn't come back either. He hoped they wouldn't. He didn't want to hear those terrified screams again. They just… He took a deep breath, calming himself down. Wait, why was he trying to calm himself down? Souji was the one who needed help to become calm again… He needed his friends there to tell him everything was going to be okay. Yosuke didn't need that, at least not now.

The ride home was filled with silence, and their arrival was greeted with silence too. After taking off his shoes, Yosuke realized how exhausted he was. He wondered exactly how many hours of sleep he got in the first place. Mentally shrugging, he dragged himself up the stairs, made out his bed and climbed in, falling asleep instantly. Like before, he had no dreams.


	16. Chapter 16

Delayed Player 16

"Yosuke…" the brunette grumbled, rolling over on his side, trying to get away from the hands that lightly shook his shoulder. "Yosuke, get up."

Yosuke sighed, before finally opening his eyes, looking at the blonde shadow.

"Wh'dya…want?" he murmured, before realizing he was actually able to talk again… Well, sort of. His throat still hurt and his voice was raspy and quiet, but at least it was back. Teddie smiled.

"Your mom was getting worried again. You weren't waking up whenever we tried to wake you, so if you didn't this time, she was calling the paramedics. You slept through all of yesterday and most of today, Yosuke." The teen slowly sat up, staring groggily at the other one.

"Chie told me that they were gonna head over to the hospital to check on Sensei. She said they'd wait for us at the entrance before they go to see him."

"But…when I…left…he…" Yosuke gulped, wincing as his throat burned and his voice cracked.

"Naoto asked if he was able to have visitors. They said he could…once he woke up." Teddie's small smile never left his face. Yosuke reasoned it was the fact he was still half-asleep, but all he could see was Souji and his patient smile in place of the blonde at that moment. "Now, come on, your mom wants to see you awake."

Yosuke nodded and slowly got out of bed. He assumed he missed a school day out of this. Oh well, not like it mattered much. He wouldn't be paying attention to the lectures anyway. The duo headed down the stairs and Teddie lead the brunette into the kitchen, where his mom was busy working on making a drink in the kettle. She looked at them when they entered, a giant smile flying on her lips.

"Oh, I'm so glad you finally woke up! I was getting so worried!" she cooed, before lifting the kettle, "I'm making you a special drink my mother used to make me when I lost my voice. I don't want you leaving until you've drank a cup, but it'll be a couple more minutes until it's ready." Yosuke rolled his eyes before retreating into the living room, Teddie following close behind. The two sat on the couch and turned the TV on, the news popping up on the screen. The weather channel was on, but Yosuke knew what it was going to say.

Fog, fog, fog, fog, more fog, and fog.

He didn't bother changing the channel, but there was still the typical news that'd been repeated nearly every day still there. They didn't say anything about Souji, they must had done so before he woke up. He glanced over when his mom came in the room, handing him a steaming cup. He first pulled his sleeves up to cover his hands to make sure his palms didn't get burned before he took it. His mom smiled when he took the cup, then left. Yosuke took a sip, and immediately wanted to spit it back in the cup. It was so…_sweet_, which took him off guard, he was expecting something bitter.

"How does it taste?" Teddie asked, peering at his friend curiously.

Yosuke coughed into his sleeve before he turned to the blonde, "I…think you'd…like it." He smirked, before taking down another sweet, scalding sip. He could feel it soothing his throat, but at the same time, he felt like spewing it back in the cup. Sure, he liked sweet things, but nothing _this_ sweet. It was like overkill.

But he sucked it up and finished the drink, heading in the kitchen to drop off the cup.

"Oh, Honey, you're not going out in your school uniform again. Go get changed, I'll wash it tonight when I get home from work. Oh, and don't worry, I told Teddie I was driving you two to the hospital, I know that walk is exhausting." The woman smiled, Yosuke sighing as he headed back up to his room. He quickly got changed into what he wore on the weekends, stuffed the notepad in his pocket just in case, and headed back downstairs, his mom and Teddie waiting for him. He didn't say a word as they went outside and into the car, he just stared out the window again, watching blurry surroundings go by. He didn't even say thanks to his mom when they arrived at the hospital, he just hopped out of the car and walked straight in the doors, greeted by the rest of his friends in the lounge as Teddie bounced next to him.

"Hey, Senpai, we've been waitin'!" Kanji tried to crack a cheerful smile, but it ended up turning more awkward and shaky.

"You two have great timing!" Chie gave a hesitant smile as well, "The nurse just told us a couple of minutes ago saying Souji woke up. We can go see him."

Yosuke nodded, the team awkwardly started walking down the halls. Nobody knew what to say. Even the mandatory question about the weather was out, seeing how everyone already knew the answer. Foggy and miserable. There was nothing more to it. Hall after hall, Yosuke noticed the amount of nurses getting smaller, the few left over looking terribly pale and panicked. He thought he could hear yelling that didn't seem like a patient's normal kind of pain screamed yell. It seemed more…demanding. Like…like an officer's kind of yell.

…

…

Was Souji in trouble?

No… Something told Yosuke that wasn't the case of the commands.

The brunette started biting his tongue as they continued to get closer to Souji's room. The yelling had nothing to do with Souji, his gut told him that…but something else…something else was going on with Souji… He wanted to run, to check it out, but Dojima was standing at the end of the hall, no doubt waiting to start a conversation.

"Let me guess, you're on your way to see Souji." The detective gave a bleak smile, the nurse at his side looking at him wearily.

"Dojima-san, please, we must get back to your room." She urged, starting to drag the man away.

It looked like the older man wanted to say something more, but the woman wasn't letting him, forcefully leading the man back to his room. She looked absolutely pale and panicked too. Dojima himself looked clueless. Maybe there was something going on around the hospital that would make Dojima throw a fit and rip his stitches again. Yosuke didn't hear the yelling anymore, but he knew he hadn't imagined it.

"I wonder why everyone looks so scared…" Rise muttered, glancing around. Nobody answered her. The whole atmosphere of the hospital had changed from a couple days ago with the pushy and questioning reporters. Yosuke turned to look at Naoto, who had that familiar glow in her eyes. She was trying to figure out what was going on. She kept looking in the direction the yelling had been coming from.

"You…wanna go check…it out?" Naoto stopped and looked at Yosuke, along with everyone else who wasn't Teddie. It wasn't until then Yosuke realized they hadn't known he could talk again.

The young detective gave a short forced cough, "N-No, that's all right. Seeing Senpai right now is more important." The brunette nodded in response and the group continued forward, no one saying another word. It looked like some wanted to comment on Yosuke getting his voice back, but decided against it. Yosuke knew Naoto was extremely curious about what was going on, and he was as well. He couldn't blame her. He was awfully curious too, but Souji was more important.

They continued their way down the halls until Souji's room was in sight. Yosuke frowned. The guards weren't outside. He wondered if there were any inside. He looked around. He didn't see a cop in sight. He definitely heard them before, and if there was trouble in the hospital, wouldn't they stay to protect Souji? Had they just headed inside the room? Yosuke bit his cheeks. Whatever had the cops gone and the nurses spooked, Yosuke knew had nothing to do with Souji. He didn't know why, but he could tell that was a fact.

And when a bang derived from inside Souji's room, Yosuke's mind went blank. Naoto was the first to react, running to the room and quickly opening the door. A gunshot. There was a _gunshot_. They just heard a _gunshot_ go off. When he finally gained mobility in his legs, Yosuke ran to the door of the room, him arriving last. His eyes quickly glanced around the scene. Open window, no Souji in sight… And Adachi was on the ground…bleeding…a wound to the back of his head… He wasn't moving.

Rise screamed, Chie stammered, Yukiko grew green, Naoto checked for a pulse, Teddie was shaking, Kanji looked furious, and Yosuke hesitantly looked from the body to the giant big screen sitting across from the bed. From the TV, he looked to the window. From the window, he looked back to the TV, then back to the bleeding, unconscious, dying Adachi. The open window was a decoy. The open window was to fool police. They would check and check for fingerprints and shoeprints, but they would find nothing. They would check everything in the room and find nothing but Adachi's blood. Whoever did this had dragged Souji through the TV, but not before shooting Adachi.

"Somebody, go call a nurse or a doctor!" Naoto ordered before looking back at the injured man, trying to find where the wound was so she could hopefully stop him from losing anymore blood. Kanji dashed out of the room while the other girls shakily left, to sit against the walls outside. Teddie joined the girls outside while Yosuke knelt next to Naoto, wondering if there was anything he could do to help. When she gave him a light shove backwards, he assumed there was nothing he could do. The brunette took another glance at the TV, and something about the screen caught his eye. He cautiously made his way over to the TV, careful not to step in any of the blood or touch anything. He squinted at the screen. He could see the faint trace of someone staring at him. He could see the faint trace of someone smiling at him. He could see the faint trace of someone staring and smiling at him before it disappeared and all he could see was the dim reflection of himself and the hospital room in the blank screen.

Yosuke turned to Naoto, who was asking the detective questions, trying to get him to move, to show he could hear her, to show that he was okay since she was too scared to move him. She didn't want to accidently make anything worse. She was only a teenaged detective; she only knew the basics of medical care. He looked out the open door. He could hear the faint crying of Rise and the attempts of Chie and Yukiko trying to calm her down. Teddie was in his view, and the blonde was staring blankly at his feet.

Yosuke looked back to Adachi. He assumed Naoto had found the wound, otherwise she was completely guessing with where she was holding the cloth to his head. She continued to ask him questions, continued to talk to him, waiting for him to move, waiting for him to do anything. He still lay motionless. His breathing seemed fine, but since Yosuke knew nothing about medical care, he wasn't sure if it actually _was_ fine.

When doctors, nurses, and police finally arrived and shoved the teens out of the room, it felt like hours. Even then, only one cop actually arrived on the scene. They got Adachi stabilized and rolled him away to the emergency room, the cop staying behind to ask questions. Naoto answered them all, before shakily looking at her bloodied hands. The officer told her to go to the bathroom to wash her hands, everyone else ordered to stay put.

The officer closed the door to the room and stood in front of it, glancing at the teens to make sure they didn't try entering it again. An awkward silence filled the halls, the cop glancing at each teen, but mainly at Kanji. It was obvious Kanji noticed this, and Yosuke knew he was doing all it took to keep himself from yelling. This wasn't a time for yelling. When Naoto returned, she started asking the cop himself some questions.

"What was that commotion earlier?" the cop eyed her accusingly.

"Commotion?"

"I heard yelling, which were law enforcement commands, and the officers supposed to be stationed at Souji Seta's room weren't there. I also noticed barely any patients outside of their rooms, and if they were, nurses ushered them back inside. Some commotion was going on." She glared.

The man stared at her for what seemed like a good couple of minutes before sighing, "Some nut jobs came in here saying that they had bombs strapped to 'em and if doctors didn't cure 'em from the fog's poison they'd blow the place up. Bombs turned out to just be boxes taped to their stomachs. Now, you kids should probably go home. There's nothing more for you to see here."

"But what about Adachi-san?" Rise belted, quickly standing up, "What if we want to stay to know he'll be all right?"

"Then you can come back tomorrow and see how he's doing. Right now, you kids go on home and do homework or something. This is now a crime scene, we can't have you lingering around any longer." Rise glared and stormed off, followed by everyone else. They weren't going to go home. They knew where they had to go: into the TV. Souji was back in there with the kidnapper. They had to get in there immediately.

But _who_ was the damn kidnapper? Was it Namatame? Despite Naoto saying it was a random act of crime when they first speculated over it, could it have been that man all along?

Luckily, they weren't running out of the hospital so he didn't have to strain his voice even more, "Na…Namatame's the—"

"Unfortunately, no, he's not," Naoto interrupted, lightly tipping her hat, "I took the liberty of checking up on him after I washed my hands and he'd been restrained to the bed. He has nothing to do with Senpai's kidnappings."

"How do you know the bastard didn't—" Kanji started, before the detective raised a hand.

"How do you presume Namatame got out of his restraints, got to Souji's room undetected by the police that _remained_ outside his room, managed to steal Adachi-san's gun off of him and shoot him in the back of the head, managed to drag Souji in the TV, leave him there, found his way out of the other world without getting obliterated by Shadows, made it back to the hospital, yet again undetected, and put _himself_ back in the restraints by the time we heard the gunshot and entered the room?"

Kanji stared before looking away. He definitely had nothing to reply to that.

The teens made the rest of the way out of the hospital in yet more silence. It wasn't until they were walking for a couple of minutes that Yosuke realized they weren't heading the quicker way to Junes from the hospital. He looked between his friends, hoping one would explain so he wouldn't have to ask. His voice may have recovered somewhat, but it still hurt his throat a lot to talk.

Finally, it seemed like Teddie clued in.

"The TV at Junes blew up."

Yosuke froze, staring at him dubiously, "…What?"

Teddie shrugged, "It…blew up. There were sparks and glass everywhere. Izanagi was probably what caused it."

All Yosuke could do was blink and imitate a fish, before shaking his head and yet again asking, "_What_?"

"The only way back into the TV is from the other portal at your house." Yosuke stitched his eyebrows together. He didn't realize how quick Teddie's mood could change. Usually, even in dire consequences, he would still be happy and carefree, but now… He was happy an hour ago, and now it's like he didn't care what happened to anything. Yosuke knew it was because Souji was missing again, and Adachi got shot but…

"Come on…" the blonde gulped, and Yosuke could see the tears threatening to fall as he stepped ahead, "Let's… Let's go save Sensei."

Yosuke cracked the shortest, tiniest smile he could muster, "Yeah."

The walk back to his house was long, but now it felt like time was going fast. He couldn't believe how slow time felt like when they were waiting for the doctors to arrive to help Adachi, and that was only a couple of minutes. But now, this walk that took almost an hour felt like it was going by in seconds.

When they returned to Yosuke's house, Chie stopped him from opening the door.

"What if your mom's home?" she whispered, tightly gripping his arm.

"She's…at work."

"How do you know?"

"B-Because she's…my mom."

Chie sighed and backed off, Yosuke fishing the house-keys in his pocket that he'd grabbed from his uniform's pocket before he'd changed. Opening the door, he let the others in first, Teddie rushing up the stairs to fish out their weapons from the closet. When the blonde came back down, Yosuke stopped the group from entering the TV right away.

"What…about…items?"

They all fell silent. If they made the trip to Junes and then back here, they would be wasting absolute precious time… but they couldn't have a repeat of last time, and this time, what if there were actual Shadows wandering around?

Yukiko lowered her gaze, "Um… Should we go…get some?"

They all fell silent again. It would definitely be a good thing to have, but… _Did they have the time_? They all knew time was of the essence now more than ever. Yosuke bit his lip.

"Let's go." He muttered, and entered the TV, the others quickly following after him. The trip to the other world wasn't like before. Electricity wasn't flying at them like before. When they appeared in the TV world, the first thing Yosuke noticed was their previous entrance and exit out of there. The TV's were absolutely trashed. It's like someone filled them with dynamite, blew em up, and then bashed them with baseball bats for a couple hours.

"Rise…" he turned to the red-head and gave another short smile, "Lead the way…"

The girl nodded, returning the grin, "Right."

Their way to Souji's dungeon was yet again filled with silence, other than their footsteps echoing as they ran. Around the halfway point, Yosuke could immediately tell something was wrong and for some reason it didn't have to do with Souji… It had to do with all of them. His gut told him it was too late for Souji…

But, they had to keep going! They…weren't going to fail this time… Right?

Taking a deep breath, Yosuke kept his eyes forward as they continued the run to Souji's dungeon. He was looking for the painting of a sunset he'd caught a glimpse of from the outside before he actually entered it. All he saw was black.

"Rise, are you sure this is right?" Chie asked once they stopped right before they stepped on the endless black on the floor, in the sky, everywhere.

"Y-yes… I'm positive." She muttered, looking around cautiously.

Yosuke twirled his twin daggers in his hand, before finally deciding to take a daring step into the abyss…before he slowly started to sink. It didn't take him long to realize that what he was sinking in wasn't black paint like he originally thought… He realized that he was sinking in gallons upon gallons upon gallons and gallons and _gallons_ of blood once the crimson colour had started seeping closer on his clothes.

He turned to his teammates, hoping for help. The blood had sunk into their previous road. All he could see was nothing but black blood behind them and in front of them. They were screaming, they were yelling but he couldn't hear a sound. He tried saying something, anything, but he couldn't hear himself.

"You're mocking me, mocking me~" was the only thing he could hear, and a brief glimpse of Souji was the last thing he saw before he was drowning under the sea of blood.


	17. Chapter 17

Delayed Player 17

Yosuke thought he would die, choking on the blood. He tried his best to hold his breath, and he damn well tried to swim his way back to the top, but he couldn't move his arms. It even felt like the blood was physically pulling him down further. He couldn't get back up. There was no way he could get back up. He wanted to find the others, to know they were okay, but he wouldn't dare open his eyes even if he could.

Something grabbed his arm, and Yosuke felt his body freeze over. Whatever had hold of him was ice cold… No… It was _colder_ than ice.

"Hana-chan~"

If he wasn't being chained in blood, the world would have fallen underneath him.

"Hana-chan, open your eyes~"

It sounded exactly like her. But…she was dead! She… She couldn't… A-And there was no way he could be dead! There just wasn't! He… He just couldn't be dead! He had to make up for failing to keep Saki alive by saving Souji! He had to save Souji!

"Open your eyes, Hana-chan~"

He wouldn't.

He shut them as tight as possible and continued to hold his breath. He would wait until they reached the end, until they landed on solid ground with actual air to breathe. He knew he was alive. His starving lungs clawing for oxygen was enough to prove that. But he would live through it for as long as he could, he wasn't going to give up. This time, he _would_ save Souji; he just had to stay strong!

"Hana-chan."

She was getting angry.

He didn't care. She wasn't his priority. There was nothing he could do for her now other than to find the murderer. Souji was his priority. Besides, he bet if he opened his eyes, all he'd see would be her half of her face scraped off so her skull was visible. He didn't need to see that.

Saki grabbed his other arm, and Yosuke couldn't feel anything at all. He knew the blood was still pulling him down, but he couldn't feel the sensation of it, he couldn't feel his lungs burning, he couldn't feel his eyes stinging in protest at how tightly they were shut. The only thing he could feel were those cold, dead fingers digging into his skin.

…Then he felt her cold, dead lips on top of his.

He almost opened his eyes in surprise, but he somehow managed to keep them shut. He wouldn't look. He didn't want to look. He would have loved something like this to happen a couple of months ago, but…

Yosuke tried to squirm, to do anything to push her away, but he couldn't. He was still being weighed down by the blood and his body was still frozen. Everything felt like ice… Her lips, her hands, the blood swirling around him… He was petrified. It's like he was encased in a block of ice.

She finally stopped kissing him.

She laughed.

…And she wasn't Saki anymore. That was Souji laughing, and it wasn't that calm, peaceful laugh that Yosuke had learned to know and respect over the past couple of months after knowing the silver-head. It was a full-out crazy laugh. There was no other way to describe it. It sent terrified shivers down the brunette's spine.

"Open your eyes, Hana-chan, or I'll gnaw off your eyelids." His tone was playfully impatient, and hesitantly, oh-so-hesitantly, Yosuke opened his eyes. The weight of the pool of blood was gone, it wasn't there anymore. He stared at his friend who stood before him, daunting gleam shining in his dark gray eyes. It took a moment before Yosuke realized Souji was covered in blood.

He wanted to scream, to ask what was going on, but his mouth was frozen. Gulping, he slowly turned his head at the sobs his ears finally registered. He could feel himself pale at the sight. Rise and Yukiko lay on the floor, dead. Throats clawed open, eyes ripped out of their sockets, limbs bent at awkwardly disgusting angles. Yosuke looked away, holding back the vomit that dared to climb up his throat.

"I'm so sad you missed the show."

The brunette shakily looked up at Souji, noticing his hands were covered in the most blood. Yosuke could feel the tears singe in the back of his eyes. Souji couldn't have killed them… Not even his shadow could have killed them! They were his friends! They were all friends! He would never…!

"Oh, quit looking so conflicted; it's starting to piss me off." Yosuke winced at Souji's tone, before noticing a sudden light of… realization (?) in the other teen's eyes, before it disappeared. A quick smile suddenly flashed on Souji's face, and he cheerfully clapped his hands together, "At least you'll get to watch me mutilate Chie!"

Yosuke's eyes widened, and he struggled to get up and restrain his friend. He finally realized his hands and legs were bound together tightly. He twisted and turned, trying to undo the ropes that burned into his skin, only to stop when Souji kicked him in the ribs, pleasant smile still plastered on his lips.

"Souji!" the brunette cried as the teen walked towards Chie, forcefully gripping her by the hair, "Souji, stop! Stop, please! We—" Yosuke was cut short as Souji threw the girl across the room, Chie sobbing and gagging at the impact. Souji slowly walked over, his steps fluent and confident in stride. That patient smile Yosuke used to love seeing was now making him sick to his stomach as the silver-head inched himself closer to the fallen girl.

Yosuke gulped, wanting to scream and yell and plead for Souji to stop this. He couldn't move as he watched the other teen pick up the defenseless Chie by the hair once more, who, herself, begged for him stop. Yosuke wanted to look away, he wanted to just close his eyes and pretend it was all a nightmare. But he couldn't. He couldn't look away, even though he desperately wanted to. Chie was forcefully thrown onto the floor yet again, gasping at the pain. Souji quickly knelt down, digging his knee into her stomach as he reached behind the girl's back and untied her hands. Souji started to bend her fingers back, slowly, before they finally snapped. One by one, he snapped each and every one of her fingers, before his hands grabbed her wrist and he started twisting it and twisting it and twisting it until it _snapped_.

Yosuke assumed that Chie was in so much pain she couldn't even scream anymore. She was absolutely silent. Tears continued to roll down her face, but she was absolutely quiet. Her eyes reflected the amount of torment she felt. Yosuke gulped, tears flying down his cheeks as he watched helplessly, trying to loosen the ropes around his wrists, hoping he'd be able to stop Souji. He wanted to say something, but words were lost to him. The world was lost to him. Life was lost to him. Nothing made sense anymore.

After breaking the girl's other wrist, Souji lifted himself to his feet, still smiling pleasantly, before he stomped on Chie's knees. Even though her grieves still embraced her legs, Souji still had the strength to break them both.

Yosuke bit his tongue in frustration as he watched his best friend continue to torture Chie. Why? Why why why was he doing this? Why? He shook his head in dismay. He didn't want to believe that Souji could actually kill them… He didn't want to believe that Souji WOULD actually kill them… He didn't want to believe those words Izanagi told them… He didn't want to…

…Wait… What if this was just another illusion? Just another trick? Like when 'Souji' had been getting crushed by Yosuke's 'Shadow'? Staring wildly at the beating before him, he wondered…

"Souji!" he cried again, the teen slowly turning to look at the brunette as he continued to wail on Chie, "Souji, stop this! We… We came here to help you! We came here to save you! No matter what, we'll always be there for you, man! You can tell us anything! We'll listen! Please!" his throat burned in annoyance, but Yosuke tried to ignore it as much as he could.

When silence plastered the room and nothing moved, Yosuke thought he finally did it right. He finally didn't screw up! Yes! He was waiting for the ropes around his wrists and ankles to morph into paper. He was waiting for the scene around him to turn into paper. He was waiting for a door to pop open and let him find the rest of his friends, perfectly well and not dead. He was waiting… but it never came. A low chuckle enveloped the room, before Souji burst out into a fit of laughter.

Crazy. Maniacal. Broken.

That wasn't the laugh Yosuke knew.

The look the other boy gave him was so… deranged, so… misplaced… Yosuke whimpered. This wasn't Souji. This couldn't be Souji. This wasn't Souji. It wasn't-it wasn't-it wasn't!

Swiftly kicking Chie once more, Souji stalked over to Yosuke and bent down to his level. The brunette grit his teeth and leaned back. Those eyes weren't Souji's eyes. They couldn't be. They held nothing but… unbalanced insanity.

Yosuke gulped, sweat trickling down his brow, "Give… Give our friend back!"

Souji just continued to smile as he cupped Yosuke's face in his hands, "You're-" Yosuke winced when Souji forcefully twisted his neck to the left, "-the-" to the right, "-biggest fucking idiot-" left again, "-I have ever met in my life, Hanamura."

Yosuke coughed, trying to still the spinning room as Souji continued to talk.

"When I'm done with Chie, I'm making you my next project. It _was_ going to be Teddie, but, well, you offered yourself up by being a dumbass." A low, distorted chuckle, "You know what I'm going to do to you? Hmm? I'm going to drag my nails in your face. I'm going to claw out one of your eyes and force you to eat it. I-"

"What happened to nooses?" Yosuke blurted out, surprised at even himself. Souji just cocked an eyebrow, so Yosuke decided to keep his spiel going, "Why aren't you using nooses? What got you so caught up in blood and torture? We never saw anything like this when we… witnessed your childhood!"

Souji's eyes glazed over in a sickening pleasure as his lips curled into an equally sickening smile, "I shot Adachi. Took the fucker's gun when he was busy trying to shove me back in the TV. When he pushed me in, I managed to grab onto something. I pulled myself up, but not out. I could see him walking. He was relieved to finally be rid of me for good, right? Right? Well, fuck him. I pointed the gun and aimed right for his head. I could see his blood spatter in the air."

The teen started laughing again before tilting his head, "Is he dead? Is the fucker dead? Did I kill him? I killed him, right? I wish I could have seen the look on his fa-"

"Adachi-san is not dead!" Yosuke could hear Naoto yell out, and he gulped again at the sudden drop in Souji's facial expression; from insane happiness to deranged fury.

He didn't say a word as he headed back to Chie, kicking and punching her without any mercy this time. Yosuke wasn't sure how many audible snaps he was able to hear before Souji stopped. Yosuke held back every shudder in his body, and forced down the vomit that rose in his distraught throat. Chie wasn't moving anymore. She was dead.

"S-Sense-"

"That's enough! That's fucking enough out of all of you!" Souji's eyes darted between the remaining teens, his hands shaking as he grabbed a gun from inside his hospital gown.

Adachi's gun.

Yosuke shook his head, before stopping immediately at the pain. No. No! Adachi couldn't have been the one to do that to Souji! He couldn't do that to anyone! He just… didn't seem like the type of person. Yosuke's breath hitched as he slowly looked up at his friend. A split-second image of Adachi covered Souji; holding the same pissed expression, same motion of darting the pistol around blindly.

…No.

He was dreaming. Dreaming. Dreaming dreaming dreaming dreaming.

He was asleep.

Dreaming.

Coma.

Dreaming.

Dreaming coma sleep dreaming.

This wasn't real. It wasn't real. It wasn't real.

If he told himself that enough times, would it actually become true?

"Souji-Senpai, what you've done is exactly the same as Adachi-san!"

The glaze in Souji's eyes grew fiercer. More wild. More crazy. What was Naoto doing?

"Shut up! Shut the fuck up, Shirogane!" Souji screamed, stepping furiously on Chie's lifeless body, "What the fuck do you know?"

"I know you've lived a traumatizing life, but we can h-"

"Help me? Fuck no! Nobody can help me!" the teen was gripping onto the gun so tightly his hand was turning white, "I've tried. I've tried to talk to people. I've tried. I've tried-I've tried. I've tried talking to you-but you all turned it back on yourselves-I tried so hard. I tried so hard to be good and nice and good and nice and not mean and good and…"

Tears were rolling down Souji's face, and he took a couple of steps before collapsing in a heap, repeating himself over and over and over again.

Yosuke looked over his shoulder, trying to find Naoto to give her a questioning glance… and to not look at the sight before him any longer. He couldn't stand… to see Souji… to… see the lifeless bodies… He couldn't… He couldn't.

If Naoto noticed him looking, she was ignoring him. Her focus was on Souji. Her cheeks were stained red. She was crying.

"Souji-Senpai, please, stop this! Let us go! You won't help yourself or anyone else by keeping us here. What about Dojima-san? Nanako-chan?"

Yosuke curiously glanced back to his friend, despite his will not to look. Souji was still crumbled on the floor, clutching his head in agony. His words were nothing more than murmurs. Naoto called out his name again, her voice finally cracking. The teen curled himself into a tight ball, his body twitching at the odd times.

Teddie called him, and then Kanji. Yosuke couldn't open his mouth.

Souji finally lifted his head, and sat on his knees. Yosuke could only use one word to describe the teen at that moment: lost.

"I…" his lips pursed and the teen shut his eyes, his head falling listlessly. The other three called for him again, before a blister of voices blurred and echoed along the black walls. Yosuke winced, wishing he could cover his ears. It was like that room when Souji was… high, but this time, the voices were louder. So loud, after only a couple of seconds, all Yosuke could hear was a deafening ringing. He slowly looked up to find Souji still slumped over, but his hand was twitching on the gun.

"Nothing can stop you from crashing to the ground."

"Not-ng can stop y-you from c-shing to-gr-nd."

"Mocking me…"

"Mocking me, mocking me."

"Mo-in-e-mock-me."

"I tried."

"I t-tried."

"Tried."

Were suddenly audible in the ringing, and Yosuke was starting to see spots. Red, black, yellow dots. Souji was standing up, gun at his side. Yosuke blinked, struggling to keep his eyes open. His head was pounding, his eyes were hurting, nothing made sense anymore. It felt like he was being squeezed every couple of seconds, but he tried to ignore it as best as he could. Something started dripping down his face, but he ignored it as best as he could. All he could do was watch Souji. Watch him carefully.

He was saying something, but Yosuke couldn't hear what.

He was screaming, but Yosuke couldn't hear what.

He was waving the gun around again and screaming and clutching his head. He must have bit his tongue. Blood was starting to fly from his mouth.

The dots got bigger and more frequent. The ringing got louder and louder. Yosuke could barely breathe. He struggled to stay awake. He felt something drip down his arms. He ignored it. He watched as his friend continued to scream and holler and wave the gun around dangerously before the spots flooded his vision.

"I'm bad luck."

The voice of a child.

"I've always been bad luck."

The voice of a young Souji.

"I've been fighting…"

The voice of a crying, young Souji.

"I've been fighting my whole life… to be good. I wanted to be a good boy… I wanted to be a good boy for Mommy… for even Daddy… And Auntie, and Grandpa, and Noka… I… I tried."

"I'm sorry…"

"I… I've been fighting… in such a dirty, cruel place…"

"I… I couldn't… I couldn't get out…"

"I'm so scared…"

"I want my mommy…"

"I want… to go home…"

"I… I don't like it here…"

"I… want… to be free."

"Please…"

"I'm… so sorry…"

"So sorry…"

"I tried…"

"I tried… I tried…"

"I really did."

* * *

**Sneakers:** By crap, how long has it been! I am SO sorry guys, I had the biggest writers block EVER, and I tried SO hard to write this so many times, you don't even know. I managed to kick myself and finish it today, but... it still didn't end anything like I wanted. Agh, this is the second big disappointment I've gotten myself into today. OTL

But, anyway, I am SOOO sorry this took so long. I'll try and update faster! There's only a couple of chapters left, and thanks for sticking with me for so long! I hope you guys will enjoy this one either way, and again, I apologize it for not being the best. I was writing it to mainly quit being angry at myself for screwing something up earlier today, ha...ha... didn't really work out that great.

But, but yeah! I love you all and stuff! Keep on being awesome guys!


	18. Chapter 18

Delayed Player 18

Son of a BITCH! How did that little shit steal his gun?! Adachi resisted the urge to scratch the back of his head as the doctor talked to him. Fuck, these stitches were itchy. He kept nodding absent-mindedly at the doctor's speech, who continued to coo and say how lucky he was for living something like that. Adachi swore that when he found Souji again, he would just strangle the life out of the little bitch, and then pop a couple bullets in his face for good measure.

"Adachi!" he quickly turned to Dojima, who rushed in the room, clutching his side in pain. A nurse was berating him as she slowly made her way there as well. Limping to the bed, Dojima stared at the younger detective, trying to catch his breath, "What the hell happened?"

"D-Dojima-san, I…" tried killing your nephew for the last time. Had the perfect chance. "…I went to check on S-Souji… Because of the bomb threats… A-And there weren't any cops outside his room, so I was really worrying, a-and I went inside…" grabbed the little shit off his bed and threw him in the TV. The brat somehow must have caught onto something and managed to shoot him. Adachi mentally glared. How had he not realized his gun was missing!? "…There… was nobody in there, Dojima-san! The window, it was open, but… I-I went to go get help, and I _swear_ there was nobody else in the room! As I went to leave… I-I heard a gunshot… and then I blacked out. I-I don't even know how they got my gun… I…"

He gripped the sheets, part acting, mostly out of real frustration. He was expecting the older man to yell at him, chew him out. Adachi was mildly surprised when Dojima slid to the ground in tears. He peered over the bed in curiosity, the older man gripping onto the edge of the bed.

Don't make a snide comment; don't make a snide comment…

"D-Dojima-san… I… I'm so sorry, I didn't…"

"Just… Just shut up, Adachi… Please…"

"Dojima-san…"

"I said shut up!"

Adachi closed his mouth, pressed firmly in a tight line as he slowly turned to lie back down. He stared at the ceiling, his lips shaping into a frown. He still couldn't believe that little shit managed to get his gun! He brushed his fingers through his hair, sighing in exasperation. When and how had that little shit… He hadn't struggled when… Adachi grit his teeth. _Shit_. The little shit wasn't struggling—Adachi was only focused on putting him in the damn TV again… The little shit grabbed his gun while acting unconscious because he knew the detective was preoccupied with… Son of a bitch he fucking hated that little brat.

"Adachi."

"Y-Yeah, Dojima-san?" the younger cop sat up again, masking concern at the man who remained on the floor. Tch.

Dojima winced, grabbing his side, "…thanks… for at least… going to check up on him…" the older detective stood up shakily, not even bothering to hide his tears. He sounded so tired and broken, "…I wish you got there sooner… I know you couldn't have, but…"

"Trust me, Dojima-san, I wish I got there sooner, too…" Adachi grimaced, "...how the hell did the culprit even get my gun…"

"Maybe you left it laying around somewhere," Dojima muttered bitterly, "It's happened before."

"…Ah… I… Sorry, Doji—" both men turned to the radio that started signalling in Adachi's clothes folded on a chair. Dojima waltzed over and lifted it up so they could hear it properly, without it being muffled within Adachi's shirt.

'—_back-up! I repeat, Souji Seta has been found in the local dump with seven other teens: three dead, four critically injured.'_ Dojima and the doctors visibly paled,_ 'Requesting immediate back-up! We—oh shit!'_

Dojima paled even more at the gunshot that echoed through the radio. Adachi tried not to smile at the faint screaming he could hear in the background. That was definitely Souji going mental.

'_Seta has a gun! I repeat, requesting immediate back-up!_'

Dojima turned lifelessly to Adachi, before glancing to the doctor, "Is Adachi well enough to go to the scene?"

The doctor slowly shook his head, "Unfortunately not, w—"

"I have to go!" Adachi belted, "I'll be the only one who can calm him down! If I don't go…" he bit his lip and clenched his fists before throwing the blankets off and jumping out of the bed, "Please, you have to let me go. I'll come right back after it's done, and then we can all be hospital buddies, huh, Dojima-san?" he gave a half-hearted laugh, before it died at the look Dojima gave him.

God, this was _gold_.

The doctor hesitated, "I'm afraid I can't…"

The radio chimed in again, distressed cries from the other officers on the other line. The doctor sighed in agitation, "All right, fine, you can go… Just… don't strain yourself."

"I won't! Thanks, Doc." Adachi grabbed his clothing off the chair and went to the room's bathroom to change. He ignored the tie—he wanted to see the action! Hoo man, maybe he could secretly record it on his cell. Hm… he wondered if there were news broadcasts right now on the scene capturing the action. The man grinned to himself in the mirror, before heading outside as he jumped and 'struggled' to slip on his shoe.

"You're in no condition to drive, though, Adachi-san." The doctor chimed up, Adachi furrowing his brow.

"Oh… yeah, guess I wouldn't be, huh?"

"Yoshida's outside." Dojima's voice was void of emotion, "Just… hurry the hell up, Adachi."

"Y-Yes, Sir." The young detective nodded curtly and headed outside, "Yoshida-san, we have an emergency! Get me to the junkyard immediately!"

"Adachi, are y—"

"Now!"

It took them a couple of minutes to rush out of the hospital, Adachi had to stop for a moment after experiencing a couple of dizzy spells. Yoshida questioned if he was fit to do this, but Adachi insisted he was fine—he was the only one who could convince Souji to calm down, after all. A friendly face he knew would be the only thing to convince him to be escorted back to the hospital.

Oh, how everyone was an idiot.

He tapped his fingers impatiently on the car's dashboard as they sped down the road. Three dead and four injured? Adachi smiled mentally, frowning with concern physically. He couldn't believe it! Had that fucking brat gone berserk and killed three of his so-called friends? Oh man, what a fucking riot! Despite the amusement this epidemic would cause, he was still going to shove the kid into the tv one last damn time. He would have to be very careful, a bomb-scare probably wouldn't happen again, and security would be tightened heavily.

But he guessed that's what made it more fun.

His finger tapping got more rapid as minutes passed. Son of a bitch, he was missing the show!

"Yoshida-san!" he yelled, "Hurry it up!"

"I can't see a damned thing, Adachi! I don't need to get _us_ into a goddamn accident!"

"Well…" he lowered his brow, "Try! Just… do something! We have to get there ASAP!"

"I know, dammit!"

"At the speed you're going, I highly doubt that, Yoshida-san!"

The other man snarled under his breath, hands gripping the steering wheel so tight they faded to white, and the police car roared down the street, the red and blue lights barely disturbing through the fog. Adachi chuckled in his head. Yoshida wouldn't get in an accident, not even in this fog or this speed, and they both knew it. More minutes passed, despite the increased speed, and Adachi punched the dashboard in anger when he noticed something in the distance.

They weren't even close to the junkyard.

"Dammit, Yoshida-san! What the hell are you doing?! We're at Junes!" He yelled in dismay as the other cop shook his head in dismay.

"Shut up, Adachi! You made me miss the turn-off!"

"How did I manage that?! You're the one driving!"

"You made me go fast, you moron!"

"That's no excuse! You call yourself a cop?!"

"Don't talk to me like that, Adachi!"

"Yoshida-san, we don't have any time!"

"I know, dammit!"

"THEN GET US TO THE FUCKING JUNKYARD!" his eyes widened in surprise, and he held his forehead at the sudden headache. Shit, he didn't mean to slip-up like that. Yoshida stared at him wide-eyed for a moment, before returning his gaze back to the road.

A small silence filled the car.

"You really care for the kid, huh?"

Adachi almost burst out laughing, but kept it hidden with a solemn, "…yeah…"

Another silence filled the car and Adachi took a deep breath, headache pounding feverishly. He wondered how much fun he'd missed thanks to this asshole.

"We're almost there, Adachi."

He lifted his head and stared blankly at the window. One more silent minute passed by before the other cop cars faded into view. Before they came to a stop, Adachi unbuckled the seatbelt and jumped out of the vehicle, rushing over to the others. He hid behind one of the open doors of one of the closer police cars and whispered urgently to the nearest cop.

"Situation?"

The other man looked over incredulously, "_You're_ the back-up? Shit, what the… never mind, any help works. One of the kids phoned to say they found Seta unconscious in the junkyard. By the time we arrived, the kid must have woken up and had a severe mental breakdown…" the cop seethed, "…he probably doesn't even know what's going on… probably doesn't know what he did to his friends…

"He also somehow got his hand on a gun; perhaps it was Shirogane's. He's holding his remaining friends hosta—"

"HELP HIM! GO AHEAD, JUST TRY! I FUCKING DARE YOU!" Adachi perked up from behind the door, restraining everything to stop himself from smiling maliciously at the sight. He was close enough to see Souji, blood covering nearly every inch of him, holding a mentally worn Hanamura by the neck with his injured arm, gun to the brunette's head.

Adachi's gun.

The headache popped up even harsher, but he was so fixated, he barely noticed it. The scene before him was so… it was perfect, he didn't even care that the little shit shot him anymore.

"Souji, put the gun down, we d—"

"FUCK YOU, YOU UNKNOWING ASSHOLE. WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU EVEN KNOW?! YOU'RE ALL FUCKING BLIND SHITS! I FUCKING HATE THIS TOWN! I HATE ALL OF YOU!"

"S—"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! _SHUT UP_!"

Adachi tried to peer at the rest of the scene. He could see three bodies strewn about. Satonaka… Kujikawa… Amagi… All dead. Oh god, their deaths looked brutal. Haha… oh man, what did that kid do to them? Ah shit, he wished he could have seen it.

Tatsumi was sitting beside a giant tv, looking at the scene, and, like Yosuke, also looked mentally exhausted. Even from where he was, Adachi could see there was barely any life left in the punk's eyes. He was cradling a broken Shirogane, who was clutching and shaking her head, and most probably muttering nonsense. Then, there was that blonde kid that showed up from nowhere. He was merely standing there, silently crying.

None of them had any fight left.

Haha…

What did Souji do?

Hahaha…

"I WILL SHOOT HIS FUCKING HEAD OFF! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT HE DID! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ALL DID! I HATE THEM! I FUCKING HATE THEIR FUCKING GUTS AND I WOULD GLADLY RIP OUT THEIR HEARTS WITH MY BARE-HANDS! I WILL FUCKING DO IT! IF YOU FUCKING GET ANYWHERE NEAR ME, I WILL RIP HIS FUCKING HEART OUT!

"OR, I COULD JUST MAKE THEM KILL THEMSELVES! I'M CAPABLE OF DOING THAT! VERY. FUCKING. CAPABLE."

The police murmured in dismay, and it was all Adachi could do not to laugh. He slowly emerged from behind the car door and headed 'hesitantly' towards the scene, his hands raised defensively. He put a sad smile on his face—that fake, practiced smile… twisted in such a way, only Souji could see his malice.

"I SAID DON'T FUCK…" the silver-haired teen stopped short at the sight of the detective, his eyes widening, and his hand holding the gun lowered slightly; the teen looked like he'd stopped breathing.

"Souji, calm down, nobody else needs to get hurt." Adachi laced his voice just right, only Souji could hear the true intentions, "Do you know where you are? Do you know what you've done?"

The boy stared. There was no reaction. There was nothing at all. Adachi frowned.

"Souji-kun?"

That was it. A sudden string seemed to pull and a smile crawled onto the teenager's face, a slow chuckle emitting from the boy's throat.

"of course it's you"

"it's always you"

"you son of a bitch"

"i hate you"

"haha…"

"you fucking monster"

"you look just like him"

"I realized what it was"

"you look like my fucking father"

"hahahaha… how fucking hysterical is that, YOU STUPID FUCKING OLD MAN?!"

Any pain in the teen's body probably seemed non-existent to him as he clutched onto Yosuke's throat even tighter with his bad arm, jamming the gun into the brunette's ear. Hanamura didn't even blink.

"LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME!" Souji was laughing so hard; it was hard for Adachi not to join in, "ARE YOU FUCKING ENJOYING YOUR LITTLE FUCKING SHOW?!"

"Souji, I—"

The boy's eyes were ridden with tears and insanity, his smile still twisted and curled. This was fucking hysterical.

"it's cuz i'm bad luck"

"you must be bad luck too"

"right"

"why else would you do this"

"i tried"

"i fucking tried"

Souji suddenly dropped Yosuke to the ground without warning, and dashed to Adachi before anyone had the chance to react. He grabbed the detective in a hug and placed the gun to the back of Adachi's head.

Some of the other cops cursed.

The boy gripped his jacket so tight that Adachi could feel his shaking fingers against his spine. They were cold. They felt like ice.

Adachi grimaced, not expecting this.

"i can fuck you up"

"like you did to me"

"would you like that"

He rubbed the gun against the bandages.

"i mean i kinda already did once"

"did you like it adachi-san"

"i bet you liked it"

"it made you so happy"

"didn't it"

"when i fucked you up"

"haha…"

A bead of sweat trailed down Adachi's head. Shit shit shit. The teen rested his chin on Adachi's shoulder, and said nothing. There was a standstill. It felt like eternity. Adachi glanced around at the broken teens still sprawled around in the junkyard, and they were all staring back at him. Such dead eyes.

Broken.

He looked at the TV next to Tatsumi. It seemed to emit static for a moment.

"A-da-chi-san~"

The man grit his teeth.

"Your breathing is ragged, A-da-chi-san~ Would you like one lifeline?"

He seethed, hands clutching at this side.

"What's the matter?" Souji practically purred, "Cat got your tongue?"

"Shut up." He whispered.

"you're the only one adachi-san"

"the only one i can't make kill themselves"

"you think you're so great"

"yet you hate everything"

"but you want to die"

"but you want to live"

"you're so sad adachi-san"

"i tried"

"i tried"

"did you try"

"What the fuck do you know you little—" he silently cursed, low enough that only Souji would hear, biting his cheek.

The teen chuckled, "what the fuck do you know, adachi-san"

"nothing"

"i hate you"

"i bet you were a mistake like me"

"your daddy beat you didn't he"

"like mine did"

"you look like my daddy"

"i hate you"

"i hate myself"

The teen backed away, tilting his head to the side. He was covered in blood, his eyes held no life, his smile was broken and cracked, he was crying, and he handed the gun to the detective. Adachi hesitantly grabbed it, eyeing the teen warily.

The little shit went and ruined his fun again. He fucking hated him.

Souji stepped back again, head still tilted eerily to the side.

"if i had a noose"

"i would hang myself"

"you made me bad again"

"i hate you"

"but you want me dead"

The teen raised his arms, hands limp. He looked like a puppet. Adachi grit his teeth, hands shaking slightly on the gun. Fuck this fucking kid.

"so go ahead adachi-san"

"kill me"

"do it"

"come on"

"you tried three times already"

"or was it four"

"five"

"i lost count"

"but weren't you going to try again adachi-san"

"do you not want to now because there's an audience"

"wouldn't that make it more fun"

"then you get to run adachi-san"

"you get to run"

"and i can stop"

"come on"

"shoot me"

"in the heart"

"head"

"neck"

"you missed once"

"you were up close"

"how did you do that adachi-san"

"you must suck at aiming"

"but I know you missed on purpose"

"you couldn't let your game end"

"right"

"it's over now"

"i'm done"

"i'm fucking done already"

"i wanna go home"

"i want my mommy"

"i want my mommy to hug me and make me feel better and tell me it's okay i'm not bad luck she loves me she always loves me no matter what i want my mommy where is she did you kill her adachi-san why is she not here"

Souji fell to his knees, arms still out, head still tilted.

"why did you kill her adachi-san"

"why did you kill my mommy"

"i loved my mommy"

"i never thought bad of my mommy"

The teen slowly curled into himself, muttering for his mother over and over again. He was trembling, his forehead repeatedly hitting his quaking knees as he mumbled and cried. Adachi could hear the cops talking to each other under their breath, and he could feel the odd stares some were giving him. His eyes darted from Souji to the other teens to that giant tv. He thought he saw something move.

Shit, what time was it?

Suddenly, he felt the headache. The pain rushed in so fast, so harsh, the detective dropped the gun as he went to clutch his head in utter agony. The back of his head pounded the most. Shit, had Souji fucking loosened the stitches? Fucking little…

He shut his eyes before falling to his knees. Shit, he felt so dizzy. Shit. Slamming one hand onto the ground to try to keep himself steady, he lightly shook his head, taking deep, shaky breaths. Shit shit shit this stupid fucking kid was more trouble than he was fucking worth. Hand gripping tightly into the dirt and grass, Adachi glared at the teen, hoping it identified as a look of pain to the officers. He couldn't figure out if he was masking himself well anymore. His fun was gone so fast, part of him didn't even care if he was sent to jail. Stupid little fucking shit.

"does it hurt adachi-san"

"i like seeing you in pain"

"it makes me happy adachi-san"

"were you happy when you saw me in pain"

"can i hurt you more"

"you won't fight back will you"

He could see the teen start to crawl towards the dropped gun. He looked like a ghost—an apparition.

"you're too scared to kill me in the open"

"you're a coward"

"you suck at games"

The police officers were yelling at the boy to stop moving, or they'd shoot. Souji wasn't listening. Adachi frowned. He couldn't read the teen's face anymore. His eyes, his returned smile, they weren't giving anything away. Shit.

"What're ya gonna do, kid, huh?" Adachi grimaced at his own voice—tch. He shouldn't sound like such a little bitch, "You gonna shoot me?"

"no"

The boy stopped and sat on his knees, swiping the gun so it rolled back to Adachi's hand. He was still smiling. Crying. Unreadable.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Shit shit shit! He didn't know what the kid had planned—ah, shit, his fucking head!

"I'm getting Adachi back here. He can reason from a distance, even though it's getting us goddamn nowhere." He heard Yoshida mutter angrily, and the young detective knew he was cautiously edging towards the two, gun aimed at the teen. Souji's eyes were on Yoshida now.

Watching.

Unblinking.

Yoshida was about to grab Adachi's arm, the teen and him locking eyes the entire time. Before the detective even brushed his fingers on Adachi's sleeve, Souji's eyes widened and his grin grew.

"don't touch him"

Yoshida froze, "He's bleeding, Souji. Your friends are bleeding. We just want to get you all back to the hospital safely."

"but they hurt me" The teen lifted his hand and pointed at Adachi, "he hurt me a lot"

Adachi looked up to Yoshida, hopefully feigning an 'I'm-not-sure-what-he's-talking-about' look. Yoshida glanced at him for a moment before taking a couple steps forward and lowering himself to Souji's level, "What did Adachi do to hurt you?"

"he played a game"

"What game was that?"

"murder"

When Yoshida looked over his shoulder back at Adachi, all he could do was shake his head in dismay.

"he fucked em up dead he tried to fuck me up dead too but i lived i lived but i'm not a good boy anymore i'm a bad boy a bad boy but i tried i tried i tried i tried I TRIED BUT YOU ALL JUST… YOU ALL JUST _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH_!" Souji screeched, scratching his head in blind fury or panic. Adachi noticed the TV sparking. He saw that kid's persona in the screen.

…Shit.

Quickly, Adachi lowered himself to the ground, pushing his gun away, and covered his head.

"Adachi, what the he—" Yoshida was interrupted as screams ripped out of his throat, the rest of the force yelling in agony as well. Adachi flinched and bit his tongue when a harsh Zio spell grazed his side, only to end up screaming when a bullet lodged into his leg. Shit—the little bastard was setting some of the guns off.

He really hated this fucking brat.


	19. Chapter 19

Delayed Player 19

The electricity continued to roll and scatter around, grazing the detective. The kid was deliberately trying to avoid hitting him… or maybe his aim was just piss-poor. Screams of agony from his 'fellow' policemen continued to claw into the air and Adachi grimaced. The kid was quiet again, and his friends were also silent. They were so close to the TV, there was no way he could miss them and… Shit, he _was_ deliberately avoiding him. What did that little shit have rolling in that demented head of his?

Despite the raging zio spell that dominated the area, Adachi warily lifted his head, wincing as a bolt of electricity narrowly dodged slamming into his head, brushing his ear. Souji was staring at him, smile gone, eyes dead. He was on his knees, sitting up tall—but still accompanied by a slouch—his arms lying listlessly at his sides. The force of his attack was cutting up his already bloodied hospital gown, but the teen gained no further injuries.

"What's wrong, Souji-kun?" he put on a smile, ignoring the throbbing pain in his leg and head, "Can't hit me? Don't you want to ki—"

A harsh bolt of electricity landed inches from his face, erupting in a ceremonial bang. Adachi was seeing spots and hearing nothing but a constant ring, but he had enough grip on his bearings to see Yoshida fall unconscious out of the corner of his eye and assumed no doubt that the others followed. Blinking and squinting intensely, Adachi struggled to find the image of the boy in his vision. The damned kid was like a ghost.

The detective sighed and reluctantly closed his eyes, taking the chance that if Souji hadn't done anything yet, he wasn't going to. Fuck! This was _bullshit_! Shit shit shit, he could feel the blood trickling down his neck from that earlier gunshot wound. Son of a _bitch_… tch… at least his leg's wound wasn't bleeding that bad. The bullet must have gotten lodged and was acting like a plug… god, if it didn't hurt like a fucking bitch though. The man's eyebrows furrowed as it felt like he was swaying on the spot—even spinning in circles. This was not good. Shit. Fuck. _Son of a_ _bitch_.

Despite himself, Adachi kept his eyes closed, taking deep, quaking breaths. He had to pull himself together. Arrest the brat, and get himself fixed up. It would all be good. He wouldn't get caught. There wasn't any evidence ha... haha... he was fine. He could shove all the bodies in the tv. The fog on the other side seemed to wipe clean the fingerprints off that Yamano bitch and Saki slut's clothes. It would be okay. Everything would be okay and fun. Yes. Fun. He'd keep the fun and drama going until he got sent back to the city and out of this boring shitfest.

The lightning stopped.

Taking another deep breath, Adachi wearily opened his eyes, vision blurry and ears still ringing. Squinting, he saw the silhouette of the teen, slumped over and nearly collapsed on the ground-it looked like he was vomiting. Waiting for the dizziness and ringing to wash over and out of his system, Adachi shakily got to his feet, fumbling as he took a few steps forward. Spots still hung true in his eyesight, the detective swallowing the urge to vomit himself. Was he even moving? He couldn't tell. Everything was off and wrong.

God, this brat was going to die.

He felt his breaths coming out heavy and hard, his leg burning in protest, his head reeling in disdain. The world could be falling out from under his feet, and he wouldn't be able to tell. All that mattered was getting his hands around the teenagers pencil-thin neck and...

"Don't you move one more muscle, Adachi!" he froze, eyeing the Tatsumi kid with Shirogane clutching to his chest as they limped over.

"Your... acts of unwarranted murder and... chaos end here, Adachi-san." Naoto winced, voice cracking and breaking with every word. Adachi blinked, slapping on his facade. Nobody would have heard his taunts to Souji but Souji himself. Everybody else was unaware. Aargh! What did that brat say in the TV world?!

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" he hollered, "I was sent here as back-up! I only want to help him! Help you!"

"Bullshit!" Kanji screamed, edging closer to the heaving Souji, "He told us himself you're the one who started this entire goddamn mess and started throwin' people in!"

"Look at him! He's clearly mentally unstable!" He paused, grimacing as he clutched his head, "...Wait... throw people in? What are you talking about? Look this... this isn't the time. We need... Yoshida-san, we need..." he turned to the cop, eyes widening in 'surprise', "Y-Yoshida-san...? ...Everyone?"

None of them looked like they were breathing. Shit, that was the entire force.

"You can drop the act, you sick son of a bitch."

"What 'act'?!" He grit his teeth, vision blacking out for a moment and he found himself on his knees, looking at the ground, "Look just... you're in the best condition... Go... call for more backup... or an amublance... just... anything. We have to get out of here."

"He's right... Kanji-kun... I'll keep an eye on them..."

"But..." the teen sighed in indignation, "Dammit..."

Adachi shifted to sit on his knees, eyeing the lanky teen as he headed to the nearest cop car. He turned his gaze back to Souji and Naoto, the girl confused and distraught, Souji having finally collapsed on the ground, staring blankly at nothing. He was blinking, but the teen's eyes were soulless. No sense of humanity or life remained in them.

He was so far gone, Adachi felt a little bad.

...Just a little.

There was a perpetual silence. The ringing in his ears had died down, and the man and teens sat and waited, bloody, bruised, broken. He could hear Kanji fumbling in the car behind him, yelling and hollering desperately into the car's radio. It felt like eternity before he quieted down to talk to whoever responded.

Souji coughed, and the man jumped, staring down at the ghostly kid. His lips were quivering, dead eyes focused on the detective and detective alone. He shifted, squirming his left arm out from under his body, dragging himself wearily closer to the older man, before desperately clawing at the air, trying to latch onto the detective. Trying to latch onto the man he once thought his accusing thoughts were nothing but paranoia. Trying to latch onto the man he grew to trust and call his friend. Naoto advised him to refrain from moving, but she did nothing to stop him.

Adachi only stared. Souji opened his mouth, unintelligible noises gurgling and crackling from his throat, squeaks and groans straining as he kept trying to grab the detective, scratching and scratching and scratching continuously at nothing as his body denied movement.

He brought his hand out.

He didn't know what came over him, but he shifted himself and raised his arm, hand limply sitting underneath where Souji was clawing. Unclear cracks and squeaks filtered out of the silver-head's mouth as he grabbed onto the detective's wrist. Adachi was expecting nails to dig into his skin. The teen only held on numbly-so softly it felt like nothing was holding him. The look on his face was unreadable.

"...Senpai..."

"They're sending... sending help." Kanji coughed into his sleeve, staring wearily at the scene, "I'm... I'm gonna go get Yosuke-senpai... and Teddie..." without another word, the lanky teen stalked off, limping to his friends.

Adachi passed a brief glance at the boy, before staring back at Souji, who's breath grew more ragged and skin more pale as seconds passed. He kept trying to speak.

"Senpai, you mustn't strain yourself..." Naoto reinforced, yet still didn't move.

Souji ignored her.

Adachi continued to stare.

Minutes passed, Kanji carrying the other two boys to the group, before sitting down as he picked at the grass in nervous anxiety. The blonde overlooked the scene and continued to stand. Yosuke's breaths were soft and slow, the brunette leaning on Kanji for support. He looked at nothing. He registered nothing. He may as well have suffered the three girls' fates.

"d...on't..." Adachi's eyes widened, cracking and slow, but audible, words crawling out of Souji's throat, "...d...on't... hu..rt... mo-mommy... please... daddy... pl...ease..."

Adachi scowled.

"...plea...se..."

His head reeled, the boy in his vision blurring to gray before the world was gone completely.

"_Stop hurting her!_"

"_You want the belt instead, boy?_"

Adachi's eyes snapped open, and he was greeted to the familiar ceiling of the hospital. Sitting up, he found the room empty. Grimacing, the man slid out of his bed, body heavy and weighted and felt unlike his own. He didn't feel pain in his leg or his head. Jacked up on morphine. Great but terrible feeling all the same.

Practically sliding on his feet, he shuffled to the door and opened it. He thought he felt a ping of... something in his hand, but he ignored it and looked into the hallway. Empty. Empty empty empty everything was empty. It was so quiet, he felt he could hear a pin drop from the next world over. The fog shining in through the windows only made the place feel quieter, shunned in a tired light.

Leaning an arm against the hallway's wall, the detective started to slowly inch his way down. Where was he? Which room was...? ...Where was he even going? Where did he want to go?

"Adachi! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" He lifted his head, looking blankly at Dojima who headed his way, clutching his side, "You should be in bed, you dumbass!"

Adachi tilted his head, "Where..." he frowned, finding it hard to form words, "...where..."

"You're in a hospital. You need rest, come on." Dojima placed a hand on the younger man's shoulder, lightly turning him around and leading him back to the man's room. Adachi glanced at the man as he was placed to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Where..." he repeated again, "...where... are... is..."

Dojima took a deep breath, his eyes seeming to brim with tears. He carefully pushed the man to lie down in the center of the bed, dragging the blankets over him, "I'll go get a nurse to fix your IV drip..." he sighed, "...just... get some rest."

Adachi snarled lightly in protest as he blinked slowly, eyes trying to shift him back to unconsciousness. He saw the older man clasp a hand over his mouth before falling to his knees, the sobs echoing in the detective's ears before they faded away.

"_I'm guessing you couldn't sleep?"_

"_What do you know?_"

"_You have giant bags under your eyes. You look dead._"

"_Shut up. It's none of your business._"

"_I'm your friend! You can talk to me about whatev-_"

"_Whoever said I liked you?_"

His eyes opened again. Instead of heavy numbness and a head full of clouds and nothing, his body was throbbing and his mind was clear. There still was a lack of pain, but his joints and muscles pulsed and pulled fervently. Grimacing, the man lifted himself up, dizziness encumbering him as he took shaky breaths and closed his eyes to calm himself.

"_You'll kill her!_"

"_Well I don't see you doin' anythin' about it!_"

"_Don't worry about me, To-_"

"_Shut up! Who said you co-ow! Fuck! You little shit, get the fuck back here!_"

His eyes opened again. The throbbing was still there, but still dulled by the medication. He lifted himself up, staring at the older man on a chair next to the bed. He blinked multiple times, unable to mutter nothing but a blank, "What" at Dojima's glance.

"...What... happened, Adachi?" the detective sighed, running his hands down his face in exasperations, "The rest of them... the backup... they're all dead... all of them... And the kids... they haven't given us a good account... Hanamura and... 'Teddie' won't say a word... Shirogani and Tatsumi... try to tell us but... they always stop. They went through so much, I can't blame them for not wanting to remember... And Souji..."

Dojima bit his lip and glanced to the floor, "...Souji... all he asks is that we don't hurt my sist-his mother. He... doesn't... He... and Nanako's getting worse... a-and..." the man erupted into tears, gripping his hair as he let his head fall to the side of Adachi's bed, sobbing into the sheets.

Adachi placed a hand on the man's shaking shoulder.

"_I'm sorry_."

"_For what?_"

"_For... bugging you, I guess. I thought we were friends and-_"

"_Stop._"

"_I'm s-_"

"_Stop. _I'm _sorry. I'm sorry for being an asshole. I just... I'm having a rough time._"

"_I know. Your face says it all. I'm here for you, man._"

"Sure you are..."

"What?"

His eyes opened and he sat up, greeted to a tired Dojima, "What?"

"You said something."

Adachi frowned, "Just... talking in my sleep, I guess."

Dojima smirked, scratching his head, "Or I could be hearing things."

An exhaustedly thick silence filled the room and Adachi glanced at his hand, still attached to the IV. there was another bandage covering where he assumed the first had been. His body wasn't pulsing as feverishly anymore, and he was groggy, but less so. His mind wandered, scowling at the fragments of dreams he kept having. Usually it was just... nothing. And he preferred it that way. This. This was starting to piss him off. He needed to keep it away. He needed all of it to go away. He needed that kid dead. That would help. It had to help.

Of course it would help. He was the cause of it, after all.

"Can I see him?"

Dojima perked up from where he was looking at his hands, face pale and eyes glinted with confusion, "See... who?"

Adachi plastered on a tiny smile, unsure which emotion he was even feeling or putting into it, "...your nephew."

The man tensed, "His condition hasn't improved, it's-"

"I want to see him."

Dojima glanced back to the floor, "I'll... see if he's available for visitors."

It took minutes for the man to come back. It felt like eternity. The teen would still be unstable, but the doctor said he stopped murmuring at the sound of Adachi's name. They said it must have been a positive sign-he did the same when Nanako was mentioned. With the assistance of a couple nurses, the men made their ways down the halls. They were filtered with a gray and fatigued lighting. It was so quiet they could hear a particle move from another world over.

"_...Mom?_"

"_...Mom?!_"

"_...Mom?!_"

He felt bile rise in his throat. Here he was. Standing outside the kid's door.

"_Hey, man, I-I'm sorry about your m-_"

"_Shut up!_"

"_I-If you want to s-_"

"_Leave me alone!"_

Outside Souji's door. He could see a shadow through the distorted window glass.

"Is... is he up?" Dojima murmured in awe.

"_Goddamned bitch._"

"_She was an amazing woman. You're the bi-_"

"_Never talk back to me, kid. You're the only other person in this fucking house now._"

His hand coiled on the doorknob, the door creaking open slowly.

"_You MADE her d-_"

"_I didn't do jackshit, boy!"_

There was blood on the floor. Dojima's gasp was audible in his ear.

"_Are you _mocking_ me, boy?_"

"_Are you mocking m-_"

The boy's feet dangled, bruised and scratched and swollen. Adachi stared. The teen's eyes looked right at him. There was a smile on his face. He was dead. Made a noose from the sheets and managed to snap his windpipe just right so there wasn't choking and suffocating for thirty minutes. He was still swaying lightly. It had just happened right before they entered. Blood dripped from his left wrist. His fingers were dyed in the colour, even on his right hand.

Time halted to nothing as Adachi scanned the boy's body, slowly, trying to register the scene. It wasn't clicking. The boy was dead, but it wasn't hitting him. The wires weren't connecting and his body was frozen and planted in place and Dojima and the nurses behind him were long gone from his mind it was only him and the body of this ruined teenager.

"_I want to be a cop._"

"_So you can arrest your dad?_"

"_So I can legally own a gun. And kill him._"

His eyes drifted to the blood on the floor. There was writing.

_you won tohru adachi_

_yamano konishi and seta_

_are you happy_

Laughter rang in his ears. It was his. He was laughing. It hurt to laugh. He clutched his sides, the motion so fast and sudden the IV was ripped from his hand. He found himself stumbling backwards. Clapping. Laughing. He couldn't stop laughing. Something wet was on his face. He was crying.

Stupid stupid stupid stupid!

Stupid fucking brat!

He could feel Dojima staring at him, mortified with anger and disbelief and terror and a plethora of emotions.

"You..." it started out as barely a whisper, "You BASTARD!" Dojima screamed, shoving the younger man into the nearby wall. Adachi couldn't stop laughing. The man berated him, yelling and screaming for minutes, possibly hours on end. Maybe just seconds. Dojima screamed. Just a scream. Not a word, not an insult or a phrase or a thing or a noun. He just screamed. It was loud. Echoed. Bounced along the halls. He fell to the floor and heaved.

Adachi slid to the floor. He never stopped laughing.

It hurt.

Everything hurt so much.

He placed his palm on his temple. Laughing. Crying.

He looked at the kid.

Those eyes pierced right at him.

He swear he could hear the teen whisper in his ear, chirping with glee.

_"Nothing can save us from crashing to the ground~_"

The world faded from existence.


End file.
